Whoohoo! I'm POSTING!

:D

See? I remembered and kept to my deadline ;)

And thank you to my reminders - Even though I didn't need the nudging and poking THIS time, I'll probably need it the next.. or the one after that. So if you notice the week drawing to a close and no new post from me... ;)

Anyway, I had a three day to-do list that consisted of JUST cleaning/sorting my office/stash area, doing this blog post, and baking. The baking is in progress ( it was supposed to be done on the first day so I could eat the muffins for breakfast.. but instead I ate the last three eggs then couldn't bake until I bought more.. and today was the first day I was at a store .. See? not REAAAALLy procrastination on that one ;) )

.... and the blog post is right here...

... the cleaning... the only things moved were for me to access stuff for this blog post >.< I WILL get it done. I WILL. sooner or later... usually later, but still, it WILL get done!

So, what have I been making jewelry wise?

Nada.

I had four V-day type braclets on the go.. then the chain on the one proved to be absolute crap... the same chain is on two of them, and I didn't discover this until both bracelets were three quarters done... so  they got shoved aside in a bit of a minor tantrum... right into the first two that had made it about half way done, all pretty dangles and beads done with gold accents to go on a gold chain... when I discovered I was out of the right sized gold coloured chain >.< All I had was a big chunky one that was too big, and a fine one that was too fine... but that I used for the other ones and it turned out to be crap anyhow >.< so again, not really procrastination on those... merely frustrated refusal to touch them until I have the right sized chain.

My modpodge experiments were halted after that first batch due to my needing my table for other stuff, and it was the project set up that would give me the most room the quickest. I'd hoped to have a couple decent podged pendants made to add in to the giveaway, but maybe next time. Ditto for my clay experimenting.

Okay... now I DID promise a giveaway.. but while putting the one batch together, I decided to do a second as well ;)

So first up we have a little bundle since it's V- Day.

 

So all the beads in the center are pairs, the ones on the bottom are singles, and then there's a nice sizes piece of cord :) All of the beads are glass. Now, since it's for V-day, and I didn't have any hearts to include, I'll see if I can't have a heart or love-inspired pendant made in time for it to be mailed out to the winner. not sure on what it'll be made of.. could be wood, could be clay, could be... whatever I decide to play with ;) If I don't have anything good enough to send made, I'll substitute a pendant of some type form my stash.. it just might not be lovish-type-stuff ;)

 

And for the second... which I considered doing on a different day, but then it kinda defeated the purpose.. ditto theV-day one.. so... number 2...

The 'Back to Work' giveaway

' Okay, now those two big peachy/orangy tubes kinda feel like stone, but the bottom one is definitely polymer, as are the two brown flowers. The speckled orange beads and the goldy/brown beads are all glass, and the pendant in a copper wrapped stone I collected from a local beach and polished up and sealed :)

Okay, so  the 'Back to Work' bundle is done through rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How do you win the Valentine's one, you ask?
Simple - leave me a comment below and tell me if you have plans for today/tonight .. or if you'll be checking out the 1/2 off V-day goodies tomorrow with me ;)
I'll do a random drawing for the winner Monday, Feb.17th ( Family Day here in Canada, so it'll be an evening/night posting ;)

F.F. #14 – With a Twist

* For those who asked, no I didn't make the bead I used n my Death Star earrings. They're bettlenut (sp?) and they just worked out perfectly :D

So long time no chat! Sorry... again... lol

I have nothing to blame but my procrastinating tendencies.

On the up side, I DID get a blog hop in PLUS I managed to get my Christmas tree down … it's still in my living room, BUT it's all boxed up and ready to get hauled back into storage, just as soon as I move crap around in there again.

… that only took me a month to do ;)

Here's to hoping February will see me being a bit more productive! :D

So, you are all no doubt wondering what I've been up to.

Well...I STILL have the reorganizing I started originally back in.. November, I think. I did progress ( sort of) away from my desk and is spread out over my floor where I can access everything to see that it gets where I want it.... see...?

View from my desk....

View form my couch...

That's my Pit .. aka Pit Baby, or Pitters... An no, that jackolantern does not have candy in it... it has empty bead bags... the candy is in the caldron tucked away in the bottom right corner ;) lol

Of course... I get my stone, shell and half my glass sorted, and realize I'm going to need something bigger for my metals... those little gray guys just aren't going to cut it anymore >.< Luckily I managed to catch them on sale again and got the last one in the size I wanted!! Once I finish getting those little drawers all filled and labeled, I have to clear off the desk and shelves and figure out the best place to put them all :) But hey... I'm getting there!

And... while procrastinating over THAT, I created a NEW mess, by recycling some of my bubble mailers :) I only got about a third done when I ran out of glue, but here's what my new butterflies look like...

Pretty new butterflies to travel to your mailbox ;)

For those wondering … and too lazy to go check the rafflecopter widgets to see the name displayed...

1) the winner of the Tori Sophia ear wires was Angela :) She has already received her goodies and no doubt has used them all up by now ;)

2) the winner of F.F. #13 was Shaiha .. and I shall get it in the mail to her soon :)

3) the 'With a Twist' n the title of this post does indeed go with the Freebie Friday giveaway ;)

For those of you who don't like this idea... blame Kashmira... she suggested it ;) lol

The last day of February is World Rare Disease Day ( http://globalgenes.org/world-rare-disease-day/ ) As such, I thought we'd try a little something different with this goodie bundle.

Most of you have heard of the Global Genes Project & their 7000 Bracelets for Hope campaign. Each year, thousands of blue bracelets are made and donated to this group, who then gifts them to the mothers and caregivers of children with rare diseases.

So this round there's a condition … you can only enter if you're willing to do something in exchange for winning ;)

The goodie bundle this month is primarily blues... and whoever wins it, must make and donate one bracelet to the Global Genes Project. They don't have to use all of their prize, they don't even have to use ANY of it... they can use beads from their own stash instead. They just have to make sure their bracelet complies with the groups requirements ( http://globalgenes.org/7000-bracelets-for-hope/ ) :)

Winter Blues Bead soup

Since it's still winter, I'll add some pretty silver snowflake charms to this, as well :)

Think you can make a bracelet to donate? If so, go ahead and enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Year's End

This past year flew by so fast... I can't remember half of it, it just vanished so quickly.

One thing I remember, is that I started the year off feeling ill... and I'm ending it off the same way >.<

It did have it's good points though, make no mistake... for all the downs, there were some ups. I hope to continue the 'ups' into the new year, and leave this batch of downs behind ;)

My resolution for 2012 was to continue with my art and create so much on a monthly basis. That went not too badly for a few months until it died off. I did continue to create, but not within any timeline, for the most part.

2013 sees a similar resolution, only this time it's strictly for my jewelry. I joined a new group on facebook, The Year of Jewelry Project. The goal is a bit more ambitious than my previous one, with it being one piece a WEEK, however, I'm in a group so there is support should I seek it out, plus they offer a list of themes to help inspire you. 

As well, I discovered that opening my own shop isn't as financially unreachable as I'd been lead to believe, so I'll be using this 'challenge' to build enough stock to get that done :)

Oh, and I purchased a jewelry class online. It's mostly basic stuff, but I thought but would help me refine a few things and maybe learn different ways of doing things :)

I decided to do a 'year in review' kinda thing... but being me, I had to do it differently :) And so... a year of jewelry ( mostly... some aren't in there, and some... might be from last year... I 'think' I did them this year, but it went by so fast I can't remember >.< )

Some of those I've shown here... some I haven't :) Looking at the different backgrounds, I love the wood in natural lighting... not as much in artificial light. I rather like the black though... I think this year I'll have to consider ordering a light tent. I've tried some of the 'do it yourself' versions, but all have failed miserably >.< I can't follow instructions. I just can't. I NEED to take instructions and

 figure out how to do it my way... that doesn't work all the time ;)

Oh well.

And so, you've read all this way through and are no doubt wondering if I'm going to say who won December's F.F. giveaway....

... I guess so. I mean, you guys DID read all the way through this.. so.. you know...I suppose I could let you know that little bit of news... ;)

Out of 81 entries, Rafflecopter says the winner is #10

Kristi Jaro :D

Do I even need to remind you of the rules? lol You know the time limit by now, Kristi...give me a shout and crush everyone's hopes of a redraw ;)

I'll be posting a new giveaway on Friday, so be sure to pop back in and check it out :) Plus, I'm offering up a bundle of goodies to one lucky designer at the Bead Soup Cafe's 'Non-blogger/ blogger 3rd challenge, ' 'Fur'liz Navidad' .  It's a 'closed group', but everyone is welcome :)

Hope you all have a great night and enjoy ringing in the new year in whatever way you chose to :)

F.F.#12 & Randomness

..well... randomness first, maybe ;)

I'm actually going to get this written and scheduled to post early... it's 9pm thursday as I'm writing this.

okay... 9:02 ... but the point is, I decided not to make you wait until I got home on Friday and found the energy to get it done. this gives you several more hours to get your entries in... for a giveaway that's open for an entire month, anyhow...

I WAS actually going to do this even earlier, but.... got distracted. No no making things... I do have things that need to be made, including a no-knit scarf that is currently sitting on my photo background board in little piles of yarn with tacks holding my top knots in place. That's as far as I got... and that's attempt number two... attempt one I had tacked to my door to work on and keep things from getting tangled but...that just killed my shoulders, back and neck...after five minutes >.< 

So yeah, that came down and I attached it to my board instead... and it's been sitting on the chair behind me for two days now, untouched :)  So no, that's not what distracted me.

Shaiha's ( of Shaiha's Ramblings ) hubbie, Saje, is an author. I've known this for as long as I've known her. I kept meaning to check out some of his books but never got around to it.

 Until today.

This evening, actually.

 I dropped in to Samhain Publishing and bought two of his ebooks. I'm half way through the one already. THAT's why I was distracted.

 A book nabbed me.

I made myself stop reading so I'd have time to get this posted before I head off to bed. 

Otherwise, I'd have continued to read.

Right, okay... had other things to say, but my distraction distracted me so... giveaway time?

By the way, sorry everyone, but Renetha was on the ball and nabbed her prize before there was even a chance of me giving it to someone else ;)

That just means you'll have to try to win this bundle instead.

And yes, as mentioned, it's another soup centered around a Marsha Neil focal :)

A collection of  gemstone, Czech glass, copper, and porcelain beads, plus a copper toggle... that kinda got half buried under the one coin.. sorry.. >.<  It's a pretty flower/vine toggle ;) Oh, and two little bundles of  cording.

And yes..I DID include two of my skulls... because.

... don't ask why...I'm really not sure... they just kinda jumped into the pile and I grudgingly let them stay there ;)

Anyhow, want to try and win them?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the instructions on Rafflecopter to enter as many times as you can. Some may offer the chance to enter once a day, so read carefully ;)

Whoops!

Sorry.. been partly busy, and party blahed... and between the both I haven't posted in quite a while >.<

Still not really in the blogging mood, but I figured you all might like to know who won November's F.F. giveaway, hmmm?

Renetha ,  as per the rules, you've got a week to give me a shout to claim your prize.I have your addie already on file, I just need the shout to let me know you're awake and paying attention ;) If I don't hear from you by the first Thursday in December, when I post the new FF next Friday, I'll chose a new winner!

... and now everyone is crossing their fingers and hoping Renetha doesn't see this so they get another shot at it ;)

No worries everyone :) I was bad and placed another order with Marsha, so December's FF might just end up being another soup featuring a Marsha Neil pendant :)  Just gotta decide if I can bear to part with another of them... or if I should decide on something else ;)

In the mean time, I have some light display photos, and snow photos, and jewelry photos to share.... and the pink hair is gone ( for now ) so maybe I could show you the new do... Just gotta park my butt and BLOG lol

Not now though... now I still have one more day of NANOWRIMO  ( National Novel Writing Month) to see if I can't get my word count up a bit higher. I'm no where near the 50,000 goal, but I've managed to beat what I've done the past two years. It's amazing how all year long I can sit down and whip out acres of words, fill file after file of stories with no problem... but the one month where you have to actually keep track, everything gets in the way to prevent it >.< lol 

Plus, I have a commissioned jewelry piece that, while being done, still doesn't 'feel' done... and another that refuses to even start due to a focal issue... and two handmade Christmas gifts that need to get made and into the mail this week....

November is a crappy time for NANO!! lol

Anyway, I'm wasting my word count on blogging... Renetha! ( I want to call you 'Ren' so bad >.< lol ) give me a shout! The rest of you, check back later on for an actual blog post about STUFF :)

~ Skye

Freebie Friday # 11

First Friday of the month.... most regular readers know what that means ;)

... of course, they also know I'm going to babble on about other crap for a while and make everyone wait :D

Marla Gibson won last months F.F. goodies, for those who didn't check the Rafflecopter widget to see if their name appeared ;) 

I also did a couple surprise giveaways that I never even mentioned. I popped into my Blogger dashboard a few days ago and saw my 'followers' had reached 50... AND that Blogger had FINALLY FIXED IT! For almost a year now, when I clicked on my follower list, I'd get a blank page - I knew I had so many followers, but I couldn't tell who they were. BUT NOW I CAN!  So I copied out all the names, assigned a number to each and used random.org to pick three. Two of them had emails attached to their blogger accounts and have already been notified - Pam aka The Crazier Sister has already replied, and her little soup mix has her name on it ready to go. I'm still waiting on a reply from  Cynthia.  And the third follower had no way to contact her, so Sarah Singer, give me a shout ! 

Some of you know that I follow several blogs, and among my faves is Fancifuldevices. I found out I won a pair of her earrings ( which are massively long and have me on the verge of tearing my closet apart to find the perfect out fit to wear with them... since my weight has been up and down in the last couple years, this may require shopping ;) )  At any rate, Fanci asked if I'd like some buttons along with my earrings... she was needing to destash... I said sure.

... here's what she sent...

Look at all those goodies :) I had to dump them all out and sort them right away...I just HAD TO! It's been very hard to not play with them, too...I have stuff I NEED to do first ... >.< *sigh*  Which brings to me another thing...

I have a crap load of things to get accomplished this month, including a bunch left over from LAST month, so I wasn't planning on taking part in this year's NaNoWriMo  -National Novel Writing Month . For those not familiar with it, it's an open challenge for people to take up and write 50,000 words in 30 days... 50,000 words being the average word count for a novel. I've been in it for several years, but the last two failed to get very far due to 'life' getting in the way or writing. The year before that I teamed up with a friend, and since the goal is 50,000 for ONE PERSON in 30 days, we doubled the word count to 100,000 in 30 days, and did it :) 

Like I said... I wasn't planning on taking part this year... however I woke up in the wee hours on the 1st with an idea in mind and started writing. Despite the fact that today I've been doing bits off and on, not really feeling it, but not really feeling like doing anything else either, I've still managed to make it to 3625 words.  If only I could count my blog posts into that ...I'd have my 50,000 total in no time ;) lol

So, you might not see much in posts from me this month considering everything I need to do.... Then again, this is me.. so.. you might see plenty from me this month as I avoid doing the rest of it ;) I'll tell you what though... if I somehow manage to make it to the goal and earn my NaNo badge this year... I'll do a special giveaway to celebrate :)

And speaking of giveaways ... you all really want to know what Novembers' goodies are, don't you?  Especially since I put out that teaser in the one group about sharing my Marsha Neil stash ;)

* note - HOLY CRAP! Minor heart attack there! I just started to type Marsha's name and my finger slipped... and the ENTIRE POST VANISHED! >.<  Thank you 'undo' feature! Whheeehw!  Okay .. back to our regular scheduled programing .. lol)

Who wants to  find this in their mailbox?

There a gorgeous Marsha Neil pendant in the center ... surrounded by  some adventurine chip stone, I believe that's goldstone chips ( the brown with sparkles.. if I'm wrong, please tell me...I got them in a big box of stone chips, but very few were labelled) some triangle green seed beads, some opaque orange glass rectangles, I 'think' the orange rounds are acrylic, and some gemstone 'daggers' that I'm trying to remember the name of.  Plus to round it out, some yellow faux suade and some green embroidery floss.

 closer view?

So same rules as always - Click on the rafflecopter widget and fill out all the entries you can :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~ Skye

Freebie Friday #10

So... did any of you REALLY expect me to get this posted earlier than this? And are any of you REALLY surprised that I haven't shared those photos yet, or that pretty package tutorial, or those blog posts I mentioned ...?

Didn't think so. by now most of you know I'm easily distracted...by laziness. ;)

And naps... naps are good. I have a very comfy couch that inspires naps...you sit on it, snuggle up intending to read or watch a movie or work on some beading... and then you just feel so comfy that you just have to close your eyes for a few minutes...

... then three or four hours later you open them again and wonder what the hell happened ;) lol

And rainy or dreary weather doesn't help avoid that 'need a nap' feeling.

Anyhow, all plans aside, I WILL do those things... just not today. Today I have winners to announce and goodies to show :)

First off, the third 'Pay It Forward' spot goes to Micheladas. :) I'll be sending you a note off soon to find out a few things and get your address from you.  Carolyn , I sent you a note about a week ago and haven't heard back from you. Please check your email and if you don't have anything from me, email me at skye_sands@hotmail.com so I'll have your email :)

Next, the earring giveaway.

First off, thanks to everyone for taking part :) I loved reading your favorite Autumn things :)  I love the leaves.... the way they change colours, the smell of them, the crunch of them under your feet as you walk... everything. Autumn leaves are the best :D  I also love designing and carving my jack-o' lantern, and getting all slimey when scooping out my pumpkin seeds to roast them :) It's gross, but so much fun! I'm not fond of the smell of my hands after scooping out pumpkin guts though >.< lol

So, do you want to know how I chose the winners this time? lol  No  I didn't let my cat choose this time ;) I let the beads choose !

I had fifteen people leave entries... so I assigned each name a number, and then took fifteen brown glass star beads ( because that was the closest container lol ) , sat my roll of packing tape on the floor a foot or so away, then tossed the beads towards the roll. The number of beads that landed inside the roll was the winner. I did this twice for the first place ( 7 stars!), then the second place ( 2 stars >.< lol.).. put the beads away.... then got them back out and tossed them again for an extra winner ( 11 stars! whohoo!).

Kimberly gets first choice of which pair she wants.

Originally, the other pair was to go to Jami... however, if she likes the same one Kimberly chooses, I'll make her a similar pair, and Gina will get the left over. Other wise, I'll just surprise Gina with a pair ;)

Are you drumming your fingers in anticipation of what's in the pot for this months FF?

I could make you wait longer, you know ;)

I had thought to make a set of Halloween themed jewelry for the giveaway... but I got hit by the blahs and didn't get them beyond the design and prep stages. And then I turned around and knocked over a stack of bead packages and realized... I should share. If I shared some of these, then I wouldn't have to put them away ;)

So another bead bundle it is :)

October Goodies

I decided to share some of the goodies Lori Anderson sent me from our beadswap way back when - I think those are shell beads, and two charms - one plain white, and the other pink that says 'hope'.

There's some of the lovely lucite flowers I just received from PineRidge Treasures :)  A couple of the magnasite beads I got from the CBC Destash Day event; Four glass amber coloured tear drop beads, and a selection of wings, connectors and two large copper hearts, all from Yours, Mine & Ours.

PLUS, in addition to what's in the photo, there'll be a bundle of faux suede cording and a baggie or two of seed beads mixes, and I think maybe some other fibers to play with. I may decide to add a picture of that stuff... or I might not  ;)

I'd debated on doing a color coordinated bundle but... nah. Maybe next time ;) When I start putting different coloured beads together ...I get the urge to play with them.. and then get distracted >.< lol

a Rafflecopter giveaway

and I think I'll leave you with one of my pictures from PumpkinFest...

 ... of what else? A pumpkin :D

 

 

Isn't that an amazing carving job? These two guys carve two huge pumpkins every year... They'd just started on the second one when I took this picture, so I didn't get to find out what it was... until the other day at work. It was a frog... and I NEED to get my coworker to send me a photo of it for my mom! she LOVES frogs :D  For those curious,The eagle pumpkin most likely weighed around the two to three hundred pound mark! A little kid could climb inside there! the 'soon-to-be-frog pumpkin was a bit smaller.. well... flatter.. lol

 ~ Skye

'sockapalooza' Results & F.F. #9!

Okay so...I'm gonna have to redo this a few times to nab all the spelling crap... my arms feel like rubber and my brain is mush ... and my title just contained the word 'resluts' until I noticed and fixed it >.<

Plus the sockapalooze results were supposed to be up last night but because of the way I felt, I crashed majorly early. and gee.. guess what? tomorrow's the reveal for the 2nd C.C.D.C. ... which means everything has to be finished, photographed and blogged about tonight... >.< Yup... gotta find the energy somewhere to do scramble-design...I have two pieces partially done and that's it... and I'm not sure you can even really call the one 'partially' yet... *sigh*

So here are all the socks that were entered :)  I took them out of order and slapped numbers on them at random.

Anyhow, for those who entered, the winner of the sockapalooza beads

  is feet #2 ; Beti Horvath :) .

And the winner of the socks ....

 is #6 ; Renetha :)

It was a toughy... I was going to choose Beti's 'sox' as my faves, but since she won the beads, I was then torn between the peace feet and the odds .. and well.. odds won ;).

So Beti & Renetha, send me your snail mail addies  please :)

Oh.. and if you're wondering how the winner of the beads was chosen... I cut up slips of paper, wrote the numbers on them, folded them in half... gave them a shake then threw them into the air... the paper that landed closest to the pair of socks laying on my floor, won ;) lol

And all of you who don't have any socks... SOOO tempting to buy you all a pair, just because I find that sad.. lol >.<

So... off to the object of September's Freebie Friday drooling ...

I WAS going to do progressive, but decided since I'll most likely be doing a big bundle next month too, not to bother.

September Soup

So, on the top we have 3 packets of chipstone - aquamarine, rose quartz, and I believe some dyed howlite. Beneath that we have 3 packets of some of my custom seedbead mixes, then we have two sea glass pendants, a couple shell slices ( whose name I can't remember), some Sesame Jasper, some turquoise nuggets in green, orange, red, yellow and brown, some bead caps, and a foil-lined glass bead.

So, yummy enough? Remember to enter for each of the spots you're eligible for in Rafflecopter, and PLEASE make sure you're blogger account ( or whatever account you post comments under ) has an email or a blog attached to it. I do occasionally break my own rules about contacting winners, or just like to follow links and visit the pages & blogs of people who visit me :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Check back tomorrow for my reveal of the 2nd Creative Chaos Design Challenge ( the one I never did get around to posting a 'see what I have to work with' blog post about >.< lol )  Plus I'll be sticking up another little giveaway any time I feel like it... just gotta think of what to make you guys do this time ;)

~ Skye

Still Playing Catch-up

So, despite several scribbled notes scattering my desk... and floor... and beading bag... concerning blog posts to write and projects to finish... *sigh*  Yeah, it's been one of THOSE summers. So many things to do, but no time to seemingly get them done..

.. and when you do have the time to do them... you don't have the drive or energy >.<

So today I'm taking a massive stab at 'GETTING THINGS DONE' .

Is it working?

YES!!

I completed two, VERY long over due projects, got them all photographed, packaged, got the notes written, and MAILED THEM. Whoohoo!! Two biggies crossed off my list! 

Plus I've written out two lists that are still attached to the notepad that remains right in front of my monitor so I won't loose them ; one list is for all the upcoming blog posts, both regular, as well as for hops, that I need to write, and the other list is for the rest of the current  as well as upcoming projects that I need to do.

One will not be completed. My dad requested a crap load of earrings and things that he could sell at his yard sale this weekend. According to my to-do list and what day it currently is... unless I'm hit by a massive creation drive the next two days, the best I can do is price all of the stuff I have here already made that have never found homes... and that I'm not allowing myself to keep >.< lol And he only gets them if I make it out to their place in time.. or they come up and get them ;) lol

Anyhow, so looking at my lists... I feel more positive about clearing them in time to still get a fairly early start on Christmas season projects. I'm thinking I might even manage to get in some Autumn and Halloween creating too if I keep myself on track :D

Now, onto one more over due task that I'm sure you're all waiting for - and it's ONLY one day late ;) lol

The winner of the Autumn Pantone Beadsoup from August's Freebie Friday giveaway is...

Gina Hockett !

Gina, you've got two weeks from today to contact me with your mailing address. :) If I haven't heard from you by then, I'll draw a new winner!

There will be more blog posts concerning a myriad of subjects over the next while, so keep your fingers crossed that I clear out my list so I can move on to making more pretties all the quicker! 

And you can also cross your fingers that tomorrow's blog post will be an early start to September's Freebie Friday ;) That will depend on whether or not I get the blogging stuff done and get time to tackle getting the goodies together for it! 

And remember last year? Autumn is my fave time of year, so starting with this month, there'll be either extra special giveaways... or just more of them ;)  Keep an eye out to see what I decide to get up to ;)

~ 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

FF#7 winner :)

Just a quick post today. I'm on vacation, sitting in my mom's basement on her computer...with her dog on my lap in an effort to inconvenience my typing in the hopes I'll give up and take her to ponds instead...it's 6 am...I'm not taking her swimming yet >.<

I've had a fabulous couple days with my mom :) spent way too much money, but I'm on vacation and I have some fabulous goodies to play with now :)  Of course, the ones I need to get busy with ( as soon as I deal with my pieces for the Thrift Shop challenge this Saturday ) I got for free... two bulging pockets full of beach stones :) We just got carried away walking in the water at the beach spotting pretty stones...I need to go polish them up and practice my wire wrapping... dad's having a yard sale on Saturday so I said I'd send him a bunch of my jewelry for it...so...I'd better make more lol I figured a bunch of beach stone necklaces would be  good :) Plus... wire practice :D hehe

I've also got a couple pieces made out of my bead soup... totally keeping both for myself. Wore the one yesterday... and yes, it has those skulls she sent me ;)

Oh and cross your fingers for me..I believe I have the panda issue beat! It's just a matter of whether I can resist giving in to the urge to add that last little touch and risk screwing it up again... >.< that last touch will make it cute as hell and more panda-like... currently it's just pretty and panda-themed only in color and an abstract kinda deal... I'll share pics and ideas in one of the groups later lol

But none of that is why you're here reading this. ;) you want to know who won that box of beady goodness from July's Freebie Friday.

According to Rafflecopter, the winner is Kristi of Curiosities by K :) Congrats, Kristi! You've got two weeks to poke me and let me know you've seen this... and maybe give me your address again... I had it to send you your CCDC kit but ... not sure if I still have it or not... >.<

I'm heading home today, so I'll be getting together some goodies to post August's FF tomorrow :) I have no clue what it'll be since I've been a tad busy and haven't thought about it until today lol  Come back and find out :D

~Skye

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

FF Winner

Once again time flies away from me! I keep meaning to blog more often , and I have plenty of things to blog about, yet I just can't seem to get around to actually setting aside the time to DO it >.<

This week is especially hectic, what with my manager being on vacation and me working extra shifts to cover her, plus ending up staying late several shifts just to get things done. On top of that, the Creative Chaos Challenge reveal is this Saturday, and I still need to finish off my designs... would be terrible if the hostess didn't finish off her own challenge ;) 


Since that would be more than enough work right there to keep me hopping, I of course took on more... I'm almost done that panda painting I showed you a peek at last post... just need to add in some finishing details and shading now, plus I've got the kits for the next Creative Chaos challenge all ready to go... just not sure on whether I included too much or not enough... I'll have to check with this rounds participants before I toss up the sign in form ;)


Then.. because all of THAT would be MORE than enough to keep me busy... I have my Bead Soup all ready for me to pack up and mail off to my partner, Maria, this week ( I'll be doing a blog post introducing her soon, I promise!) , and then on Monday I responded to a message and am now hip deep in the running of another big project.




I think I'm done taking on extra work for this week ;)


Well, aside from a couple blog posts...


... and some writing...




.. and some photography if the sunlight cooperates....




>.<


Okay...so..I suppose you all want to know who won F.F.# 6 ? Well according to rafflecopter, it's Susan G.


 So, Susan G., give me a shout with your address and your decision on what you want - all of the chain, or just one with some extras to go with. 

I'll catch you all again in a day or so for another post .. and if not, then I'll catch you on Saturday for the Creative Chaos Challenge reveal :D

~ Skye

Freebie Friday # 6

Another month gone... damn >.< lol

So much to blog about but  I won't for two..well.. three reasons

1- there's too much for just one post ;)

2- I've got a headache and the white screen combined with the tapping of keys isn't nice >.<

3- this blog post is already serving double duty as it is ;)

So... which to do first...

... announce last months winner....?

 or show this months prize ?

hmm.... decisions decisions... you know I suck at making decisions, right? lol

alrighty... winner first.

According to Rafflecopter, the lucky winner is  Kimberly Flood :)  Kimberly, you've got two weeks to contact me with your address so I can mail off your ribbons and cords... if I don't hear from you by then, I'll draw a new winner.

So what's up for June?

I'm kinda torn... so I'm going to give the winner an option again... if I get the second option completed before the end of the month >.< lol

 So... this month you can win...

 ....approximately 2 1/2 - 3'  each of my hand hand beaded chain...

 ...OR ...if that's just too much chain for you ;) What about your choice of one of the above chains, plus a 'surprise' assortment of coordinating beads and, with any luck, a matching toggle clasp ? Sound more to your liking?

Of course, since I won't know what choice the winner will make, I'll just have to make up matching toggles and bead packs for each, just in case... And then I'll either end up with two compete sets left to decide what to do with... or I'll have three sets of toggles and beads... either way, definitely fodder for another giveaway ;)

This month's giveaway will run until Wednesday the 27th, when I'll announce the winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check out the Father's Day inspired design challenge and join in this open challenge ! the reveal and blog hop will be on June 16th. Then drop in on June 30th for  the Creative Chaos Challenge reveal !

~ Skye

Last Chance

Alright, so since I never got around to finding the rest of the parts for the F.F. #5 cording giveaway.. until today...I've extended the giveaway for two more days; you now have until midnight on Thursday ( ET) .

So ... what is up for grabs this month?

9 bundles of satin rattail cording. 

2 bundles of hemp cording

5 bundles of faux suede

3' of black satin 3/8" ribbon

3' of purple 1 1/2" craft ribbon

3' of mauve 1/2" velvet ribbon

3' of black & white 1 3/8" vintage Conrad velvet ribbon

 So, yummy enough? Click on the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The winner will be posted on Friday's blog, as will the next giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Freebie Friday # 5

 Hello  :)

Happy Star Wars Day :)  you have no idea how much I was tempted to do a Star Wars giveaway of some kind, but alas... I couldn't bring myself to part with any of my treasures :)

Yes, here we are again... the first Friday of the month. Time for a new giveaway :)

I had thought to do some jewelry for this round... but I have several pieces already that need to be made.

Then, I thought about making some hook clasps, ear wires, and beaded chain... or maybe make some domino pendants or something....  but then I realized, I have too many things sitting here waiting for me to finish them... whether it's jewelry or bits of jewelry, I just don't have time right now to take on another project. >.<

I was going to pick out a pendant and some coordinating beads, then I hit upon an idea. I've been coming across so many posts and blogs lately where the person has mentioned that they've never used fibers in their work but would like to.

Now... my 'fiber' collection is nothing special, but I figured I'd help one of you start your own :)

 

A variety of satin rattail cording , and three  little bundles of faux suede. I couldn't find my  hemp cording or my ribbon in time for this photo, but I'll include some of those as well  and post a new photo of the full bundle up for grabs another day :)

Sorry for the short post. I've had a rather... interesting... week, the kind that never works out the way you planned. And now my plans for the weekend have shifted as well... instead of my mom coming up here for a girls weekend, I'm heading out there. I was told that my dad 'needs me to fish for him'... because I'm better at it ;) hehehe  so I'll sitting on the dock at their ponds, fishing  young Koi out so my dad can sell them ( catch and release, obviously ;) )

Plus, he wants me to do some computer stuff for him >.< lol Oh well, a weekend in the country, watching the dogs run circles around the pond chasing any frogs that might be there, while I fish and visit with my parents... sounds rather nice :) Just keep your fingers crossed the weather stays nice for me!

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... >.<