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

Apologies, Bribes, & Family inspired fun!



And so I have finally managed to get around to blogging... past my self imposed deadline, but hey... I'm blogging ;)

One of the main issues behind my lack of appearance here has already been mentioned in previous posts, and that is my grandmother. After a very long, painful, and debilitating illness, she's passed on and found rest. She was in an excellent facility, surrounded by family, and passed peacefully. No one could ask for more.

Eleanor Anderson

 The photo above has quickly become everyone's favorite picture of her. I'm thinking it was probably mid to late nineteen seventies. No later then the early eighties. And I just now realized, that I have that headband she's wearing... it was one of the items I claimed from a box of miscellaneous a little while ago. Wow... okay, that makes it even more awesome and it's totally going into my memorial display I plan on making :D


Any how, as I was saying, a great deal has happened in the past month and it's contributed to my funk in getting things finished. My living room floor still has a large sheet of paper taking up the middle of it, acting as a backdrop for modpodging my baskets and some pendant experiments... I'm hoping to get the baskets finished today, or at least the smaller ones... if so, there'll be pics of them right here....



... if there's no pic right there, then I didn't get them done ;)

My brain has returned to its chaotic attempts to multi task things that really shouldn't be multi tasked... at least not by me. In addition to my making messes with glue, paper, and various base materials, I'm also working on my BSBP creations. While I am not done, I have managed to better my usual efforts on this round by having BOTH main ingredients, the focal and the clasp, already in use and mostly finished :) I'm also working on about three other soup pieces at the same time, which has reduced my desk space to zilch... not even enough room to set my coffee cup down... so I'm on the couch with the laptop instead ;)

 Oh and in addition to everything else, I'm dealing with a wee bit of guilt. I NEVER spend this much money on something unless I really really need it.... and I didn't really really need this... wanted, yes, and needed, but not really really needed.. ;) ,  so despite the cost and the resulting frustrations over learning the ins and outs of a new system without giving in and killing it, I'm really glad I bought it. And not just for the luxury of being able to write or connect anywhere ( ie - in comfort :D ).

Okay, back to the BSBP chat for a second. The reveal is coming up rather quickly... kinda shocked me how much time has already come and gone! I have pushed myself to go outside of my box even more with this round then in past soups, so of course, that has slowed me down a bit as well, but in a good way :) Can't show you the pieces yet, of course, but as I've mentioned before, I tried some extremely basic chainmaille, although I'm starting to consider the idea of trying more after this. I even ordered some more jump rings to replenish my meager stash. Also some mixed-media with a bezel clasp and some modpodge dimensional magic ( I didn't want to break open the resin and risk messing it up >.< lol It's been too long since I've played with it for me to confident enough to risk it on such an important piece ;))

I've also been finding myself rather missing making beaded chain, so I think I'll be making more of that soon, too... you know, in between all of the other various crafty bits I'm doing or thinking or doing, plus my poor neglected writing.. and my painting. Although I seem to have passed it on to my brother who after taking up dabbling in song writing a couple years ago, has now started painting, and he's rather good. He has even dabbled into mixed media! This is awesome to me since, he's really not a 'crafty' person in that way... his painting used to be limited to customizing dinkycars, and the other creative type work he's done since he was a teenager has been ripping various electronics apart and putting them back together again... or trying to ;) Or taking photos and playing with the apps to change them. See, it's never to late to get your art on, people! :D



'Crazy won't wash off' ~by David Steffen



'Medicated People' ~by David Steffen

As far as I know, he has no blog or website ( I know he used to, but haven't heard about a replacement yet lol ) but he is on FB  -  david.steffen.142   Not sure whether he'd accept friends, or if you can leave comments on his page, but you can still drop him a message and let him know what you think  of his work. I'm sure he'd be tickled :)

You know... I think since I DID say that I would keep up with blogging, and had set a deadline for myself that I missed... twice in a row I think, extenuating circumstances aside, I think I should do a little something to make up for that breach.

Anyone interested in a little giveaway? I think I should more interesting for everyone and make you all work for your entries :) Since it IS Easter, which religious intonations aside, is a day for Family, lets get the families involved this time :D hehehe

Share, either via a link in the comments below, or in your own blog post which you can then link to the comments below , an artistic achievement by a relative :) No matter how big or small, professional or non, and no matter the artistic medium involved... even if it's the newest drawing by your toddler... in lipstick all over your wall... ;) And yes, pets and really close friends are considered family in my book too :)

And yes, pets can be artistically minded too... if you've never seen it, then you haven't met the right pets ;)


Upload a photo of the artwork in question and share the link .. make sure wherever you have the picture, the settings are set for 'public' so we can all see it :)

Sharing the picture here on my blog will get you one entry .. writing your own blog post featuring this artistic endeavor , and then sharing the link to the post here... will get you two entries :)

What are you trying to win? Hmm... how about a little assortment?
Some cat's eye chips, a random selection from my Czech glass flowers and leaves collection.  Let's toss in a pair of polymer clay frogs, fish, and pudgy pink cats all made by Marlene Cupo. A couple lampwork orphans from Gail of Oregon Handmade. A little clap bird from Starry Road Studio. A bracelet bar from Firefly Design.   And, not pictured since I haven't made it yet, but a length of beaded chain in a 'mystery combo' .. mystery because it will all depend on what I grab when I decide to make it lol

Sorry for the crappy photos here... first time uploading pics form my camera on this thing and I have no clue about the editing programs on it yet lol I'll try to fixe them later ;)

so there you have it... rules above :D

Happy Easter :)

Soup works and other fiddling...

See?! Still keeping up with this.. and no one has had to remind me yet :D

Although I did almost fall back into my trap... the one where I keep putting off blogging because I have something in the works to share... lol I stopped myself though :D Aren't you proud of me?

Anyhow, I've been eying this luscious soup Audrey sent me, and after doodling a bit, decided to just jump in.  I grabbed some super hard copper wire I salvaged from somewhere, sorted out some of my bead caps to go along with the ones from Audrey, and started to work with those amethyst rounds :) It is now official.. I have begun work on my soup pieces! :D

I would like to say, that I showed my mom the soups and she loves it too :D. She was up last weekend and we'd planned on my heading out to her place afterwards to dog sit while her and my dad went to visit my grandmother. Gram's health has been deteriorating badly, and the past few months have been touch and go. There were a couple times when we thought she was at the end of her rope, but she keep pulling through. Anyhow, as I was saying, I showed her the soup right after she'd said they were heading up to visit my gram, and she also noticed the same thing as I did... that the bird in the focal was a hummingbird, which happens to be my gram's favorite. With the way she is constantly in and out of the hospital, jewelry isn't any good for her right now, and she really only wears it when she's getting dressed up to go out, so the finished piece won't be going to her... but she'll definitely be on my mind and in my heart as I create it :)

Audrey really hit this one out of the ball park; my favorite colours, a focal with personal meaning behind it, and lots of little challenges for me to overcome and figure a way through :)

Aside from my bsbp fiddling, I'm also working on some baskets for my bathroom shelves. I have this beautiful wooden shelf my dad made me just sitting there empty ( because I don't want to clutter it up) so I bought some cheapo ugly white plastic baskets from the dollar store. Last night I sat down and mixed up some paint and painted all the trims, and today I'm doing a test run with some paper and modpodge on one of them. No worries, I'll show them when they're done, whether they turn out or not ;) I'm thinking I'll pick up some napkins of something to coordinate with them and have those as a liner... again, photos when I'm done :)

Well, no giveaway from me this time but I can't leave everyone hanging... so head on over to Grubbi Beads and check out HER giveaway :D Shop credit for her store! Whoohoo! who wouldn't love a shopping spree at Grubbi beads?!

And the winner is....

...drum roll please...

Oooh... a newbie!

Well, okay, so I don't know that she's a 'newbie' to my blog, but I don't remember seeing any comments from her under this name, and have never sent off a prize to her before :)

Congrats Angela Mullis ! As per usual, you've got one week to get back to me to claim your prize :)

And Shelley, I haven't mailed yours yet, so hold off on stalking the mailman until at least mid week ;) I have a pendant in progress, and if it doesn't work out I have a replacement set aside to mail Monday.. and it's a HEART! I actually found that I had TWO heart pendants in my stash... TWO! I obviously need to go through my stash more often since I completely forgot I even had the one, and could've sworn I'd already used the other >.< lol

Alright, so this makes two quickie posts... the next one will be a 'real' blog post, honest ;)

As Promised...

I promised to pick a winner for the V-Day bundle this evening and so I have.

Oh, for those who are interested, I didn't get to go chocolate shopping after all. I went to work and since our chocolate was only 25% off ( and rather pricey to begin with) I decided to pass ;)

Now onto the winner... I wrote out the names of each commenter and did a 'pull it out of a hat' thing.. only without the hat.

and the winner is....

 Shelley Graham Turner :)

I'm working on a heart pendant but since I haven't had a chance to sit down for long enough to accomplish much at one time, it's not done just yet lol  When it is, if it's worthy of sharing ( and sending) I'll post a pic of it in my next post.  :)

Give me a shout, Shell, and let me know if you really want these ;)

There's still time to enter the giveaway for the other set of beads too! -> http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca/2014/02/whoohoo-im-posting.html

Friday Feature : Amazing Designs + re-redo winner ;)

This week I'm finally featuring a shop that I've had on my list since this idea first popped into my head. She was actually slated for last month but got it pushed back a bit for so we could have even more fun here :)




Marlene Cupo, as some of you know, is very active in several fb groups, including being one of the top people in my Project Bead .. or should I say, one of the top faeries ;). She's also one of the commitee members and contributors for 'Jilly's Bead Posse'. and those two are just the tip of the iceberg :)  she's a beautiful lady with a big heart that I doubt many of you have NOT heard of around the beading communitee :)



Facebook Page - Amazing Designs

Artfire shop - Amazing Designs

Want to know why her feature is a bit late?

Because she decided to have a major sale in time for this feature, and let you all get first crack at the goodies :)

AmazingDesigns is having a SALE! 40% off all items in the shop!

Shall we jump right to the eye candy?

Shop Link

 Faux Wood & Carved Bone necklace & bracelet set.

Shop Link

Fun & Funky Black & White, Gunmetal Necklace, Bracelet and Earring Set

Shop Link

Ruby, Garnet and Lucite Red Leaf Necklace

Those are just a few of my favorite jewelry pieces of hers... and I didn't share any of her earrings because this post would've become ay too long >.< lol

But Marlene doesn't just make beautiful jewelry... no... she also makes magnets, and book thongs, and eyeglass holders......

 ...and beads and pendants :D

shop link

10mm Panatone Color Poppy Red Beads - Set of 10

Shop Link

Large Lentil Pendant Bead in Peacock Colors with Antq Gold Spiral Wire

shop link

Frog Lovers! 5mm Frog Beads for Necklace or Bracelet - Set of 6

shop link

Large Flower Covered Leaf Shape Pendant with Silver Bail

And SOOOO many more ! This is an artfire shop, so the menu is on the right hand side of the screen instead of the left ;) Just so you know ;) lol Guess who scrolled through EVERYTHING  looking for the beads before she noticed that menu ?  Yup >.< lol

 Up for grabs this month  are TWO $10 gift certificates to Amazing Designs :) Yup, two winners :)

You know the drill :) Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter! ( you can enter all the parts, not just choose one ;) )

 If you can't see the rafflecopter widget, it's because you're not on the actual blog post... click on the post title and you should be able to see it :)

This giveaway will run until midnight, June 16th,  and the winners will be announced Monday the 17th. They will have until June 23rd to contact me to claim their prizes!




Facebook Page - Amazing Designs

Artfire shop - Amazing Designs


a Rafflecopter giveaway


 ~ ~        ~ ~          ~ ~


Okay... AND...

 ONE LAST TIME...

 I have had rafflecopter chose a winner for the PineRidge Treasure's  gift certificate. If it's not claimed within four days...( by Tuesday night), Wednesday I'm returning the gift certificate to the shop for her to do with as she pleases >.< lol

Although, that said, I doubt it'll be a problem this time. While this winner doesn't comment as much as some others do, I KNOW she's a follower and will no doubt see this before the deadline.
















.... can you hear Jeopardy music playing right now..? lol ;)

Alright alright... and this winner is




 Mischelle Fanucchi


:)

Gimme a shout, Mischelle :)


Please.


Don't leave me hangin' again ;) lol


** EDIT :  Mischele left me hanging an entire FIFTEEN MINUTES  lol 
PRIZE HAS BEEN CLAIMED!!

finally... ;)

Double Redo !

Well, it seems that Rafflecopter kept picking people who were just passing through when they entered the last contest... that's two now that I haven't heard from.

Third times the charm, right?

Well, my Follower list has decided to vanish again, so I'm not sure if she IS a follower or not, but this time, the name is familiar so she just might be ;)

Norma Turvey , you have until Thursday, June 6th at Midnight EST to contact me. Leave a comment, send me an email,  message me on facebook, whatever and however you want :) Just let me know you saw this and want your gift certificate to buy goodies at Lisa's shop by Thursday night.

If by chance I don't hear from Norma either, I'll be posting a fourth and FINAL winner Friday. I may have to dig out my printed copy of my members list and ditch all entries from people that are not on it and narrow it to Followers only... better chance of it being claimed ;) lol

But like I said, that's IF Norma doesn't claim it... and while I can't be sure if she IS a follower, I do recognize the name and have a vague recollection of seeing comments around here form her... not many, but some.. so...I think she just might be ;)

So come on, Norma... poor Lisa's getting a complex about no one wanting to claim her prize... and this gift certificate is getting mighty tempting to my shopping bug ;) lol

Oh, for those who follow me on facebook, I still feel might crappy, but loads better than I did. I think I'm approaching human again.. although human with a nasty, chest cough and a runny nose... I'll let you know if I get any closer after I have my coffee ;)

Giveaway redo !

Well, it's been two weeks since the winner of the Pine Ridge Treasures giveaway was announced and I've heard nothing  from her. :( 

So... REDO!!

Raffie( rafflecopter) has chosen a new winner!

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer:)

Another name I don't remember seeing in the comments often, so those of you who visit all the time, keep your fingers crossed just in case this was another one time poster ;)

The time limit for claiming has been shortened considerably for this round, since this has gone on longer than expected. I mean come on, you guy snap up goodies almost as soon as I post your names... I never expected a gift certificate to go unclaimed!! I figured the standard two weeks was fine since it rarely goes two DAYS >.< *sigh* Lesson learned ;)

So Kathy has until Sunday night at midnight - that's June 2nd at midnight EST. If I haven't heard from her by then, I'll have a new winner chosen and posted Monday morning!

Update

 Sorry for being M.I.A. again >.<

I need to work through this issue of  ' needing to do' = work ... when I don;t NEED to write a post, I'm fine... when I do NEED to write one, I don't want to... it has become work and is no longer something I can just do... >.< 

Same goes for blog hops and things like that... they're fun until they hit that point where my brain switches from 'want to do' to suddenly ' have to do' , and rebels >.<  So because I have a winner to chose and announce, doing so has become a 'need to do' and thus is now 'work' ... and my brain rebels >.<

It's taken me... four days? Almost five just to write this short thing to say that.....




Carol Anderson Dillman has won the gift certificate to Pine Ridge Treasures :)

Carol, give me a shout either here, on facebook, or through email, and I will get that certificate to you :)

Feature Friday : Pine Ridge Treasures

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

~ ~ ~

This time up I'm taking you to visit Lisa Lodge at Pine Ridge Treasures.

'Lisa is a self-taught, published, jewelry designer. She is a member of the ZNET Shows Design Team, and is also known for her creative jewelry making blog hops. Lisa takes pride in creating beautiful handmade artisan jewelry. Currently she sells her work locally, and online at Zibbet.com. Many of her pieces are one of a kind. She draws inspiration from nature, especially colors like ocean blue and leaf green. She enjoys making jewelry that is elegant, classic, and can be worn at work or on the town. Her jewelry adventure began three years ago. It started as a project to create Christmas gifts for relatives, and as a stress reliever. It gives her a creative outlet after working all week at her day job. She loves coming up with ideas and making them a reality.'

You can visit her on her blog & Facebook, as well.

Blog: The Grateful Artist

Facebook: Pine Ridge Treasures 

Okay.. shall we see some of her eye candy?

The original three photos she sent me, now apparently all have broken links >.< I'm not sure when that happened, as they DID work when I posted this originally. I have since deleted those broken image links so please excuse the empty spot.

 Along with  those pics though, she did send me a bio she had written .. so was SO helpful :D )

But I picked out a couple of my faves from her shop to share too :)

photo courtesy of Lisa Lodge

Aren't these fabulous? Unfortunately these are already sold :( Although yay for Lisa for selling them, and congrats to whoever gets to wear these lovelies ;)

photo courtesy of Lisa Lodge

I just love the Egyptian feel to it :) And this one is still available in her shop :)

Lisa also occasionally has destash bead kits she puts up for sale, both in her shop and on her fb page, so keep an eye out. I've bought  several of her bead goodie bags and have loved all of them :) As a matter of fact, the 'Autumn's Glory' bracelet I showed you in the last post, was made using one of the 'soup mixes' I bought from her ;)

But enough of that... you want to know what you get to try to win by spreading the love this time, don't you?  Well this round, Lisa has handed over a $20 gift certificate to her shop for one lucky winner :)

 Use the Rafflecopter Widget to enter and follow the instructions ;)  If you don't SEE the raffle copter widget, click on the post title to go to the actual page it's posted on (rather then the feed, or email, or where ever else this pops up fr you to read ;) ). If the widget STILL won't work for you, email me your entries and I'll get them in for you

1 entry for leaving a comment here about your favorite piece from Lisa's shop.

1 entry for sharing a link to Lisa's shop.

1 entry for visiting Lisa's Facebook page and leaving a comment or a 'like'.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Feature ; Marti's Buttons-N-Beads

Sorry for the delay >.<

Anyhow, this month I'm featuring another fabulous shop :)

 Marti's Button-n-Beads

For those who've never been to Marti's, shame on you! You have no idea what you're missing!

Marti loves playing with clay, and we love the results ;)

I'm sure you've see her paw print charms around

etsy link

And one of my all time faves... her dragon pendants...

Etsy Link

She's been playing alot lately and has some new stuff that I love. Like these..

 

Etsy Link

and these...

Etsy Link

I love her horse cuffs and fish cuffs... and well... I love too much of her stuff >.< lol

So this month I have a $10 gift certificate to Marti's shop up for grabs  :)

You know the drill :) Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter! ( you can enter all three parts, not just choose one ;) ) If you can't see the rafflecopter widget, it's because you're not on the actual blog post... click on the post title and you should be able to see it :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sadafulee ~ Always in Bloom

Here we are in the second month of my new Features :) Last month we did Tori Sophia and gave away some of Shelley's lovely glammed up wires.

This month we're featuring Kashmira Patel's labor of love, Sadafulee  .

Etsy Shop Link

Look at these gorgeous butterfly wing earrings!

Etsy Shop Link

And these fun twisted hoops !

Etsy Shop Link

And this gorgeous blue & ruby red bracelet :)

Not only is does little shop have some gorgeous jewelry, but it's full of love, since Kashmira donates all the proceeds to benefit the kids of Project Why ( http://projectwhy.blogspot.com ).

First... same rules apply as for the last one.

You can earn entries by paying a visit her shop and leave a comment about your favorite piece here, fave her shop, like an item in her shop, and share her shop link. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SAVED THROUGH RAFFLECOPTER! If you can't use rafflecopter, send me an email @ mattiashogan@gmail.com and list your entries and I'll see that they get in for you :)

ONE MORE THING!! Due to the nature of the prizes ( yes TWO) , you MUST have paypal account.

This is because there are two $15 reimbursements to Sadafulee up for grabs. Since Etsy redid it's gift card deal, we can't figure out how to do 'in shop only' gift cards for a set amount. So rather then stick Kashmira with a hassle of pulling items upon request and creating a special order, or refunding part of the cost... we just figured it would be easier all around to do it this way. 'We' being myself and Marla James who has generously donated the second prize :) The winners will be chosen and their names will be given to Kashmira. When they place their orders, she'll let us know, at which point we will send the winners the money. This way, the money can't be spent in anther shop, thus denying this lovely shop a bit of business it deserves, as could happen with an Etsy gift card, or if we sent the money first ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#100 + Tori Sophia

... hmm... suddenly wish I knew how to do animations and crap... woulda been cool to have exploding fireworks and crap right here...

... post number one hundred on Blogger :)


... and I'm using it to tell you all about something new I'll be doing this year... starting right now, actually :)

I have lots and lots of friends online here who have Etsy, Artfire or FB shops...some for jewelry, some for beads and other goodies. Seeing comments all over FB about driving traffic to the shops, and advertising, etc etc etc... it got me thinking I should go back to doing 'artist features' again.. like I'd started on my old blog. Only this time around, make each feature... special ;)

So here's what I'm doing.

 I contacted five of my shop-owning friends, all of whom I believe are also followers on this blog, actually, come to think of it. Well, no, I contacted FOUR of them about continuing this idea... the lady up today I contacted before hand, just about today ;)  Each month until April or May, I will be featuring one artist and their shop... and hosting a giveaway to go with it. It might be in place of a Freebie Friday ... or in addition too... depends ;) This month, it's 'in addition to' ;) There'll also be a new catch to some of the F.F.'s to come.. starting with Feburary's... that I'll fill you in on later... you can all blame Kashmira for giving me the idea ;)

Okay... off track ... gotta stop rambling...


 I hope most of you know Shelley Graham Turner.

 She's a member of both the FB groups 'Bead Soup Cafe', and 'Creative Bead Chat',  has teamed up with Marlene Cupo to host two rounds of 'The Holiday Bling Blog Hop'...( and I believe I saw mention of a third in the works?), and start a new group called  'MarShell Swaps'.

Plus, Shelley is also the lady who started the 'Pink Hair For Lori' campaign last summer :)

She's witty, sarcastic, fun, and just a great lady to know :) She also has one of the biggest hearts I know of.

And some of the cutest grandkids ;)

Anyhow... back to business ;) She's also pretty talented when it comes to making stuff ;)


 Have you seen her adorable LOL charms?

Etsy Link

  They are SOOO CUTE!!! I have a purple one... I call him ' Lol' ( pronounced lawl ;) )


 You've probably seen her sand dollar... right?

Etsy Link

How about her new Dressed Up Ear Wires?

Etsy Link

Well I have a surprise for you :)  One lucky person is going to win, not one.... but TEN pairs of  Dressed Up ear wires. All of these...

Makes you want to pull out your beads and start designing earrings for these, doesn't it?

So, anyone who wants a chance to win these pretties, here's what you have to do... ( There's a Rafflecopter widget below to check off each entry you've done. If you can't use rafflecopter, please say so in your entry comments! )

Go to  Tori Sophia  and look at all the goodies. Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is. Check it off in rafflecopter... Tada! One entry.

You can get another entry by faving her shop or an item in her shop ( and letting me know in a comment & rafflecopter).

Hmm.. and how about one more entry for sharing a link to her shop on your FB page or blog? Yeah... not a link to this blog & giveaway... Share the link to her Etsy store, Tori Sophia.  And again, leave  comment & rafflecopter check to count it :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll let this run for a week, then have rafflecopter pick the winner.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO USE RAFFLECOPTER -- please let me know. Leave your entries comments below, and state with each one that you are unable to use rafflecopter... , and I'll make sure you're included :)

So now that you have something to look forward to... and drool over... ;) I guess I'll let you all know... that one of my followers has ALREADY  won a little something. Just for being a follower on this blog :) I've got 52 followers here, and after assigning everyone a number... the winner is LISA LODGE ( aka pineridgetreasures, for those searchers for her among my followers ;) ) Lisa,  I'm sending you a little something in the mail... not sharing pictures or anything until you get it ;)

Make sure to drop back in on Saturday for the Memories & Thanks bloghop!

ABS & YoJ, plus #99!

Yup, multiple topics post :D

You may remember I attempted to take part in the ArtBeadScene monthly challenges last year... I think I managed one... maybe two, but I remember one for sure, and I don't recall making it on the list so I must have screwed up the submitting somehow >.< lol I did want to try several of them, but they never amounted to much due to various reasons. I wasn't really planning on trying this year, since I signed up for The Year of Jewelry Project  instead... but fate smiled :)

The painting for the January ABS challenge...

And my entry....

The gorgeous peacock focal was made by Marti Conrad of Marti's Buttons n' Beads.  This was actually made for a gift exchange Lori Anderson put together over on BSC . My partner was Rebecca Anderson, and this baby spent about a month in the post to reach her. Her gift to me is still traveling, so I'll have to share that another time ;)

As for The Year Of Jewelry , week #1 's project started off great... then hit a snag and stalled... then grew into three different ones, all of which went slowly due to them each demanding my attention... >.< This meant that my Week #1 project is a day late in getting posted.

The theme was 'renewal'.

Sorry for the crappy pic... night time, indoors... and my normal background is currently acting as a 'table' to hold current projects >.<

Alrighty... now.. for the #99 part..

This is (or should be, anyhow) blog post #99 ... which means the next post has goodies up for grabs :) The day I write the post, I'll do a random.org pick of my followers for one surprise prize.. and then I'll have a second fun little giveaway posted for everyone to enter :)  So make sure you keep an eye out for #100! ;)

Plus, you can still pop over to the F.F. #13 post and enter that giveaway, too :)

F.F. # 13

Happy New Year, every one :)

Despite ending 2012 sick, I still managed to start off 2013 good. January 1st was the first day in almost a week that I didn't feel nauseous, and I've felt fine since :) Yay! Here's hoping the year continues on a much healthy note for me :D

For those of you that are a part of the Bead Soup Cafe on facebook, don't forget to sign up and take part in the third non-Blogger/ blogger challenge, Fur-liz Navidad' :)You can find it under 'files', and there's a link to the album where your inspiration photo is. All you have to do, is make a piece of jewelry, or a bead or something inspired by the pic, and on Jan.14, add your photo to the album :) One lucky participant will win a lovely bag of goodies from me and become the next hostess... and let me tell you, this is one impressive bunch of goodies. I was inspired by the kings ransom in beady treasures that Robin sent me for my prize, so this is even bigger than my F.F. bundles. As in about three times the size, if not more ;)

For those of you who would rather just stick with blog winnings that you don't have to work for, your chances at winning here are tripled this month :) First off we have the FF that I'm about to post here... plus my 100th post is just a post or two away, so I'll be doing two little giveaways for that. One will take place on the 100th post, and the other will be announced on the 100th post... or I should say, the winner of the other will be announced. All my followers will have been entered in that one automatically :)

But back to the matter at hand... GOODIES!!

The feature artbeads of this bundle, are four bumpy lampwork beads made by Gail, of Oregon Made Jewelry. Added in are a couple of new jade leaves, some Tibetan silver leaf charms, a couple crackle agate rounds, a big piece of amethyst, and I believe that big baby there is blue apatite. Plus there's a big puffy copper heart, some blue faux suede, and a bunch of assorted glass beads in colours to go with the various lampworks :)


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