Giveaway!!! Last one for the Year!

As I typed the title to my blog post, I realized how close to the Year 2014 we are...WOW!  It seems the older I get, the faster time flies.  Sigh.

I have so much to be grateful for...my family, my health, blah...blah.  Most importantly, I am grateful that I have been able to donate much of my proceeds from my jewelry sales to Miracle Horse Rescue.  Since doing this, making jewelry has given me a passion that I never possessed before.  It was a hobby before - and now it has purpose.  

So, thank you for supporting me!  

The Giveaway

I recently ordered the most fabulous lampwork beads from RadiantGlassWorks on Etsy (not to be confused with Radiant Minds / Beads and Botanicals, though another fabulous shop).  Anyhow, I went back to her shop and it is now closed (so sad!), so no link for you!  Anyway, they were made with the most fabulous cranberry colored glass, encased in clear.  

These are tiny little beads packed with a punch of color!  So, I made some sterling silver hoops from 16 gauge wire, made a head pin of fine silver in 18 gauge, and some Argentium Silver Ear wires in 20 gauge - 3 kinds of silver in one earring!

I made a pair and listed them in my shop and I loved them so much, I made another pair for this giveaway!

The hoops have been hammered for great texture, oxidized, buffed, tumbled FOREVER, and buffed again!  They measure 2" in length and are so lightweight and comfortable to wear!  

How to Enter

I keep trying to think of more ways for you to enter, so this is what I have today:

Three ways to enter!

1. Leave a comment on this blog post - equals 1 entry

2. Post a link to this blogpost on Facebook - equals 1 entry
3. Pin an item from my Etsy shop to your Pinterest Board - equals 1 entry

For each task above, you must leave a separate comment on my blog!  I will pick a winner sometime on Sunday - December 8.

Thanks for stopping by...best of luck!

xo

Patti

Happy Thanksgiving...and Black Friday/Cyber Monday

I'd like to wish a safe, and Happy Thanksgiving to my stateside friends!  I hope your day is filled with family time and you are creating many wonderful memories to hold near and dear to your heart!

As I was typing up this announcement...

it occurred to me that the month of December starts this Sunday...DECEMBER!!  Where did this year go?  Anyway, I will be adding items to my Etsy shop all weekend long! 

The wonderful folks at Love My Art Jewelry are helping those who create handmade this season. They have provided a link-up on their site for many, many handmade artists who are having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday event in their shops....all in one handy dandy place!  One stop shopping - no driving involved!  Just click the image below :)

Please support handmade artists this Holiday Season! Thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

Time for a Rest, Albeit a Short One!

I survived both of my shows last week!  The first show was an open house - I got there at about 9:45 AM and the open house opened at 11:00. It was very slow - sales wise.  However, my table was next to the kitchen and Cathy Seltzer - the hostess's lovely sister - kept putting out the most wonderful food ALL.DAY.LONG. The smells emanating from the kitchen were indescribable, as was the food!  INCREDIBLE. Thank you, Cathy! :)

I had 3 small sales all day long.  Then, about 6:30-7:00 PM, tons of people showed up.  I mentioned on Facebook - it was like a line at WalMart on Black Friday.  Amazing!  So, in the end, the show went well.

Dani graciously allows me to use her kitchen table for my set up (Dani has 4.5 children and her table is huge! (Baby number 5 will arrive within the next 4-6 weeks!)

I put my size 12 black dress on Lolita's size 8 body - luckily it tied in the back!  The dress looked much better on her than me!

Originally, I placed this necklace on Lolita, made with the amazing beads of GlassBeadArt.

I am happy to report that it sold!

I have been using ALOT of copper in my jewelry lately.  Almost all of my jewelry displays are black, which looks great with my silver pieces.  But I must say, the copper gets lost on these displays.  I am thinking of changing to some sort of neutral/natural looking jewelry displays in the future.

Saturday's show was at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Chantilly, VA.  This show is truly awesome - 125 artists - all handmade.  I did "okay" at this show last year, and I did much better this year.  I was so very pleasantly surprised.  Thanks go to my niece, who brought several of her friends, and other friends who came by to support me!  I could not have done it without you!! It was PACKED from 9:00 AM until closing at 3:00 PM. I also could not have done this show without my sister's assistance - thank you Lori!

A highlight of my day on Saturday was meeting Linda Sinish!  I have known Linda in the online world - I remember that I favorited one of her items on Etsy-she makes incredible jewelry!  She wrote me a sweet convo thanking me for the "Favorite".  She lived in West Virginia at the time, and was preparing to move back to this area.  She is here now, and I am so glad I finally got to meet her!

I am very happy to report that these two special pieces sold:

Gorgeous polymer clay beads donated to me from Jeannie Dukic.

GORGEOUS lampwork donated by Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem.

These pieces were important to me, as 100% of the proceeds were donated to Miracle Horse Rescue!  Thank you again, Jeannie and Jan!  I still have more beads from both of you and need to whip these up into jewelry as my last show for the year is around the corner - December 14th.

All in all, I was very pleased with the outcome of both shows and I made a nice donation to Miracle Horse Rescue.  Thank you to the bead artists whose beads I use to create my jewelry.  I could not do what I love to do without them!  These artists include Sue Kennedy of SueBeads, Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem, Donna Millard, Jeannie Dukic, Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio (all of my pieces made with her beads are now history!), Lynda Cogbill of LyndasLampwork, Julie of Outwest, Jody of Inspire Glass Studio, Maryse Fritzch-Thillens of GlassBeadArt, LazyCatBeads.  My list could go on for days here....

I will be having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale later this week - stay tuned for a sale anouncement!  Also, I am thinking I need to have one more Giveaway after Cyber Monday...it is Christmas after all!  Stay tuned!

Thank you for stopping by!  The next two days will be weather-breakers for most of the Country.... I wish everyone a SAFE and Happy Thanksgiving!

xo

Patti

Countdown!

For the past few years, I have been a vendor at a friend's house in Arlington, Virginia for an open house she holds to raise money for a cause near and dear to her heart - Borromeo Housing, Inc. (BHI).  BHI serves homeless mothers, ages 16-23, who are pregnant with their first child or have one child.  They provide a safe and loving home environment and the opportunity for full-time scholastic endeavor for young mothers who are interested in striving for a brighter, self-sufficient future.  My friend, Dani, selflessly opens her beautiful home to many vendors and offers a comfortable, holiday-themed environment to kick off THE Shopping Season.  In addition to the myriad vendors, her sister Cathy provides some of the most awesome food throughout the entire day (that is reason enough to attend!)  Fortunately (or unfortunately for me!), my table is situated right smack dab next to the kitchen....score!!

On Saturday - 2 days later - I am attending for the second year the St. Timothy's Catholic Church Fall Craft Fair, in Chantilly, Virginia.  The majority of the over 100 artisans attending this event feature handmade goodies- I hope I have time to shop!!!

I am hoping and praying that I did not over-extend my self!  Luckily, my sister has volunteered her time for Saturday (thank you Lori!)!  Anyhoo, I have been busy trying to make enough stock! First up, last week, Jeannie Dukic posted a picture on FB of one of her stunning polymer clay pendants and matching charms.  I no longer make Christmas-themed jewelry 'cause I don't wear it!  But, this is winter themed!  I pounced on them and ripped the package open on Saturday morning!

I just LOVE the Ice Blue color - winter sky blue! In my head, the pendant did not need any other beads, so I made a chain with one of Cindy Wimmer's links from The Missing Link. Simple links between the tri-wrapped link work perfectly with this design.

I kept the earrings super simple - I did not want them to compete with the necklace.

I have found myself playing with hoop designs, too.

Donna Millard had a slam dunk when she chose this particular shade of green for these beads - they have a black base, and are so, so pretty in person!

Lovely porcelain from Jenny Davies Reazor, paired with faux sea glass.

I bought these tiny little charms at artBliss from Diana of Suburban Girl Studio. They are so sweet and tiny, I wanted to keep it simple.

The pattern and color on these charms instantly reminded me of Pfaltzgraff - Yorktowne pattern...anybody else grow up with these dishes????

Source:  www.replacements.com

I am putting my Etsy shop on vacation today to prep, and will reopen it sometime on Sunday.  I cannot believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner...and you know what that means?  Black Friday...ugh!  I will not be anywhere near a big box store - or any store - starting November 29th through the Christmas Holiday!  The wonderful folks over at Love My Art Jewelry have been writing some awesome posts lately, specifically related to Handmade. If you are a handmade artist or jewelry-related designer and have not done so yet, scroll through the posts this month - there are some awesome tips for artists selling their wares this season.   So, I leave you with this image:

Thank you so much for stopping by - have a wonderful week!

xo
Patti

Orphans and Glass Bead Art

I have many, many orphans...beads that is.  Sometimes I only use 5 of 6 beads in a set and I am left with that one lonely bead.  What to do?  

I combine them to make one really cool piece of jewelry!

I have purchased MANY sets of these gorgeous beads from Maryse Fritzch-Thillens of GlassBeadArt on Etsy.  Many.  I first found her shop through one of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party Hops (thank Lori!), and she lives in Luxembourg.

Photo Source: GlassBeadArt on Etsy

These beads are absolutely fascinating!  Now I am not a lampwork artist.  So, my description of how the beads are made is cryptic at best.  But, they start out with a rustic base - like something in my mind's eye that comes from Middle Earth.  Then she wraps this layer of rock crystal color on top and BAM - instant gemstone!  Well, that's how I describe them!

I had more than a handful of orphans from pretty much most of the colors that she offers.  So I made one heck of a long necklace....37" long to be exact.

Yes - a link from Cindy Wimmer's book, the Missing Link!  In the book, Kerry Bogert used this link to make fabulous earrings (I have already done that!). This time, I used them as alternating links between the wrapped beads for the necklace. 

I oxidized the sterling silver, and I swear, it took almost as much time to hand buff this piece as it did to make it! :)

But the beauty in its length is that it can be worn long...

Or doubled up for a short, two strand look.

I am so grateful to the bead artists whose blood sweat and tears allow me to create!  Thank you Maryse!

Maryse's shop can be found by clicking here. 

On another note, it is frigid in Northern Virginia today - blustery and cold and I am happy!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

xo

Patti