Thanks, Rebekah!!

I was fortunate to have won an adorable sleepy critter from Rebekah Payne, of Tree Wings Studio, when she recently had a giveaway.                                                      

                                                               Here's the critter I won - isn't he the cutest!!

                                      You can go to Rebekahs etsy shop to see more of her oh-so-cute sleepy critters.

Estate Sales

Occasionally, I go to estate sales in the area, and when I saw one that included beads-of-all-kinds, I knew I had to get to this one!

There were several boxes and containers of beads in plastic bags - I could have gone a bit crazy, but I kept my spending limit to under $20.

This is what I picked up - look at all of the lampies and ceramic beads!! I, also, picked up a short strand of faceted garnet and faceted sodalite - I could be wrong, but I think that's what they are. There weren't labels on any of the bags, so I'm not sure who made the beads, but I'm loving all of the colors and shapes!!

"Found" Dresser Rehab

I'm not too proud to say I've done a little dumpster-diving - I've found a few treasures on the side of the road or put-out-with-the-trash. When I saw this dresser next to someones trash cans, I knew I could give it a new life as a jewelry supply dresser - I'm so glad I did!!

I wish I took more before pictures - it had a few cracks on the sides (wood putty to the rescue), and it was sooooo dirty inside (I love Clorox wipes!).

                                     I took out the drawers and spray painted the inside an unexpected pop of color.

Then, I painted all of the drawers inside and out before I tackled the outside. I used sample pots of paint that I already had, plus, I used a couple of coupons for free sample pots of Behr paint. So far, no cost to fix it up!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint went on the outside - Duck Egg Blue on the drawers and Old White on the base. After antiquing, waxing and distressing, I LOVE how my new jewelry supply dresser looks!!

                                                        
                                     I bought new drawer handles, but at $1.68 each, not bad for "found storage"!

Thank You, tanglebeads!!

I want to say THANK YOU to the lovely, Tania Tebbit, of tanglebeads!! She wanted to give back, so she had a giveaway of $90 worth of her amazing jewelry or beads from her Etsy store. Well, I was the lucky winner!! It took me a while to make my decision - she makes so many beautiful lampwork beads!!

This is what I received right before Christmas!! I'm really enjoying wearing the jewelry and will be making necklaces the those fantastic owls soon!

                                                        Mixed Silver Reactive Lampwork Beads with Copper

                                                                     Blue Impression Jasper on Copper

                                                                    Owl Pendants & Twisted Jump Rings

You can also see many of her beauties on her Pinterest page, here and here.

Happy Thanksgiving

                          

 As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  -  John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Pantone Bead Swap

A couple of weeks ago, Lori Anderson, came up with the idea of a Pantone Bead Swap - I was  immediately in because I love all of the colors this fall!

My partner, Rhonda Hegerman, is a lovely lampwork artist - check out her etsy shop Mustard Seed Bead & Things and her blog Some Beads & other Things.

                                                        These are the amazing beauties she made for me!!

                                                         Rhonda also sent lots of great beads to go with them!

 Now I need to get busy making several pieces of jewelry with them - I'm thinking bracelets, earrings and a fun necklace or two!!

Cabinet Re-do

I've had this cabinet for years - it's a hand-me-down from one of my sisters - that I use for lotions and potions next to my bathroom. I've wanted to give it a face-lift for some time, but didn't have the right inspiration until I bought a quart of Annie Sloan paint at Old World, New Home here in Columbus. The wheels got a-turning.

                                                                                    Before - blah

                                                                                    After - ahhhh

I painted the shelves with Annie Sloan Duck Egg and decoupaged the back with Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms Peacock Feathers fabric in sea glass - LOVE IT!!


                                                                   Another picture of my pretty cabinet

Renee Locks

I bought a beautiful Renee Locks calendar because her inspirational quotes & paintings are absolutely beautiful!!

Silk Sari Ribbons

Lisa, of Mudhound Studio, sells beautiful sari silk ribbons in sample packs that you can custom order, if you choose. She was so helpful when I was ordering, that I definitely wanted to give her a "shout-out"!

                                     Great packaging with more silk sari ribbons!

                       
                                                      Such lovely colors!!

Bead Soup Blog Party

I spent the day with my son at college orientation and registering for classes. Seeing his excitement mixed with a little nervousness, I finally made my decision. If he can take this huge step that he's taking towards his future goals, then, certainly I'm up for the challenge of the Big Party! Bring it on, Miss Lori! I'm excited to see all of the finished loveliness already!!
                                                  

Lovely Surprise!

When we got home from vacation, I received our mail & found a lovely surprise! Heidi of Ex Post Facto Jewelry sent me a pair of earrings I won - LUCKY ME!! To be completely honest, of the two pair up for grabs, this is my favorite!!

                                      Thanks, Heidi!! Love them!!

Columbus Arts Festival 2011

I love the Columbus Arts Festival - such amazing artists in one small area. This year they have 230 artists & a new Emerging Artists program, where they pair up a "new" artist with a mentor to show them "the ropes" of art shows.
I'm in heaven when I go to these types of shows because I've tried several kinds of art & I admire an artist who can "put themselves out there".
I only gave myself 2 hours because I brought 2 of my boys, so I was able to get many pictures, but didn't have time to get the names of most of the fantastic artists.
I also said we could each get one thing - such a hard decision, but I think we picked winners!!

Mine is from an Emerging Artist & what 8 yr. old doesn't want a picture of themselves?!

My 15 year old saw himself in this one  :)

        If you can't make it out to this fabulous show, I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Blue Agate Pendants

I was playing around w/my copper wire & came up with these pendants - they are quick, easy & fun to make!

I bought this strand of dyed blue banded agate rectangles a few months ago when Rings & Things came to town & haven't been sure what to do w/them.

I can't wait to see what they inspire me to make them into....

Let's Get It Started!

I'm going to start out by saying that I'm not very computer literate. Yes, I'm one of those people
that say they need to get their teenager to show them how to (*fill in the blank!*) on the computer. My only excuse is that I've been raising four active boys since 1992 & loving every minute of it!!!!

I've never needed the computer for much, only emails, happenings in the area & homework help. Now that my youngest is in school full time & I have a little more free time (not as much as I had thought I would!), I want to start blogging for fun & entertainment.

I am determined to start out this decade by learning something new on the computer at least every couple of days. I bought a flash drive & a laptop & am ready to get going....I just have to wait for my son to get home from high school.....(:

Tomorrow, pictures on my blog! Let's get it started!!