I Received THE BEST Christmas Present!

My immediate family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve.  My sister had the most glorious spread of food, including delicious appetizers made by her daughters (thank you Lori, Rachel and Sarah!) My brother, sister-in-law, and their 3 daughters were there, including Jen's husband Jason.  No offense to the adults, but these two stole the show for me:

I broke my Golden Rule of never holding babies until they are at least 6 months old (don't ask...it's silly)!  Ollie and Evie are 4 months and  3 days old in this picture.  

This may be the first - and the last - picture you see of me with my entire face in the photo! :)  It's worth it!

Hoping you all had a Merry Christmas - I sure did!

xo
Patti

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....

Handcrafted Ornament Swap & Hop

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime is hosting her 3rd Annual Holiday Ornament Blog Hop today!  We put our names in a hat and Sally chose our partners.  The only requirement was to use at least one art bead in our ornaments.  Who would not love to receive a handmade ornament?!

I was pleased as punch to have Susan Kennedy of Sue Beads chosen as my partner!  I have blogged many times about Sue's lampwork beads - and she is also an expert with enameled beads and now...beaded beads (those dreaded little seed beads that I CANNOT work with)!

First up, Sue's box came wrapped with this beautiful pendant she made with one of her lampwork beads and a highly faceted glass bead with AB finish.  (I tore the package open BEFORE taking a picture, because that is how I roll....)

This looks gorgeous on a silver chain - wearable holiday ornament for me!

The ornament Sue made for me is comprised of gorgeous faceted chandelier crystals and one of her beautiful green lampwork beads!  I have made earrings in the past from those beads!  :)  Love them!

She used these awesome gold connectors for each section of the ornament -  I have never seen these before!

The ornament looks fabulous in situ...don't you agree?

Sue also gifted me a pair of her beaded beads - which I just LOVE!  

Love the baby blue with purple seeds...so much so, that I already whipped up a pair of earrings with some faceted Amethyst:

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Sue!  I am beyond grateful for your generosity!  The ornament looks fabulous on my tree, and I will cherish it for years to come! To see what I made for Sue, go to her blog here.

A HUGE thank you to our wonderfully creative hostess, Sally, for hosting this wonderful Blog Hop!   

Now, hop on over to the other blog participants to see the beauties they received!

Sally Russick and Beth and Evie McCord

Erin Prais-Hintz and Melissa Trudinger

Karen Williams and Shirley Moore

Lori Finney and Alicia Marinache

D Lynne Bowland and Paula Kramer

Kim Bender Hora and Jenny Davies Reazor

Becky Pancake and Lori Anderson

Veralynne Malone and Therese Frank

Tanya Goodwin and Sandi Volpe

Jeanette Ryan and Rochelle Brisson

That's me! --->Patti Vanderbloemen and Susan Kennedy

I am vending today at my last show of the year (praying for good weather - snow/ice is in the forecast!) - I will be hopping after the show on Saturday evening.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and enjoy your weekend!!

xo

Patti

Winner!!

I have picked a winner for these earrings - actually, Random.Org chose the winner :)

# 20 - Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers!

Cynthia, please email me (pattivan@comcast.net) your address and I will mail these out via snail mail on Monday!!

Thanks again to everyone for your lovely comments!

Gonna be a cold, wet, nasty day on the East Coast - at least where I live.  Everyone STAY SAFE!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

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