Christmas Blessings

Today is the day for me to decorate the house for Christmas.  I will put up our tree and add decorations.  Decorating always brings back memories and sometimes a few tears.  Whenever I hang up the baby's first Christmas ornaments I cry a little.  Tears over the quick passing of time mixed with tears of joy over all the blessings God has bestowed on my family and me.

God has me in a good place.  He has blessed me with an awesome husband, loving adult children, fabulous grandchildren, an ability to move and groove, a lovely home and place to live, a good job, and a growing and thriving handmade jewelry business.

God Bless All of You!

Blue Christmas Treasury

Blue on Blue Flower Earrings

I am so fortunate to be included in another Etsy treasury for Christmas.  Again it is a pair of my flower earrings that is included in the treasury.  Many other beautiful blue items are in this treasury.

I have been very remiss on paying attention to this blog.  It has been several months.

Today one of my items was featured in a Christmas treasury on Etsy.  These Christmas red flower earrings were selected for this treasury.

You can view the entire treasury on my Etsy treasury page.

Relaxing by the River - Bead Style

I often wanted to stay in a small cabin on a river and just relax and create my beaded jewelry.  I was so fortunate to do this in September.  We had such a good time taking a four day weekend to basically do whatever we wanted with no set goals to visit any other destination.

I packed up enough beads to make lots of beaded lanyards and jewelry.  The weather cooperated, and we had cool days with highs of mid seventies and sunshine.  Each day I took my bead tools and goodies out on the deck that was over the water.  There was a table and chairs there.  I would listen to the sound of the rapids on the Big Thompson River, bask in the sunshine, and create to my heart's content. Sometimes I would sit in the lounge chair and read, and even nap for awhile. 

We were located about a mile and a half from Estes Park, Colorado one of the most visited tourist towns in Colorado.  It was the time for the elk to bugle, part of their mating ritual.  We went to town several times, and each time we saw a herd of elk in a park or on a large lawn.  We went to a restaurant on Saturday evening, and the elk were out on the lawn.  One of the does came right up to the window and peered in at everyone. Everyone was enjoying and laughing.

Our time there was so refreshing and I produced four lanyards and a necklace.  I could have done more had I pressured myself.  But this was a vacation!  Hope I can do this again next year.

Garage Sale Find - Crystals and Pearls

One of my favorite pass times is to go to garage sales on Saturday mornings.  Among other things I am always on the lookout for jewelry that I can remake into something fun and interesting.  This Saturday I only found one piece, but what a treasure!

This necklace has lots of graduated beautiful blue crystals plus lots of large soft green pearls.  They look like Swarovski crystals and pearls, but I am not sure.  I think the combination of these pearls and crystals is not very attractive.  But, it is geat for me to use in other jewelry.


Now for the really good part.  This necklace cost me a grand total of fifty cents.  YIPPEE!

Here are some close-up pictures of the pearls and crystals.  If anyone has some advice on how to determine what kind of crystals and pearls these are, I would love to hear it.

Do you make new  jewelry from rescued treasures?

Frog Fun

Frogs are fun and can bring a smile to my face. We have been collecting different decorative frogs for the last 10 years or so.  Not that we go overboard, we get one or two new ones each year.  Most of them stay outside.  But a few have found their way into the house to add a little humor here and there.

My husband is the one who started this, but I get a lot of fun out of it as well.  We are always finding cute frogs at Hobby Lobby.  Here's a set we found this spring.  They live out on our deck by the flower pots.

The sweet potato vines are always trying to cover them.  Or then maybe the frogs want to hide.  Who knows?

Ergonomics and Beading

I never gave much thought to the ergonomics of beading,wire wrapping, and other detail work.  That all changed when I took a bad fall almost four weeks ago and severely sprained my left wrist and injured my forearm.  I have been going to occupational therapy, doing exercises at home, and wearing a brace on my left arm.

I am improving, but it takes so long.  My grip is still weak. I have been making jewelry, but not as much in the last four weeks.  I am trying to pay attention to how I hold my hands and fingers, and taking care to stop after awhile to rest and stretch.   

Here is one of the lanyards I made recently while I have been babying my left wrist. Sold right away.  YAY!

Beaded ID Lanyards for the Office

Do you wear a lanyard to work?  Are you required to wear your id badge each and every day the full time you are at work?  Do you ever get tired of wearing it?

I wear an id badge to work everyday, and although I completely understand the need for it, I get a bit tired of wearing one everyday.  Perhaps that is because I don't wear a uniform.  I like to add jewelry to my outfits and find it hard to wear a nice necklace and an id badge.

As many of you know I have been designing, making, and selling beaded id badge lanyards for over a year.  I have enjoyed doing this and selling them to lots of people. I have made them in many different colors.  I have lanyards made with resin flower beads, polymer clay beads, Czech glass beads, and semi-precious stones.  Sometimes I make them with chain and colorful beads at places along the chain.

However, what about the need for a simple easy to wear lanyard that goes with anything, and allows the wearer to add a beautiful necklace along with the lanyard?  You want the lanyard to be elegant, simple, and timeless, but not the center of attention.  In response to my own desire for this, and hopefully to my customers, I am developing a new line of "Simple" lanyards.  I just posted the first two of those, and more will follow.

I will continue to create colorful fun lanyards, but now you can purchase a basic but beautiful lanyard to wear when you dress for work without giving much thought to how it coordinates with you choice of clothing that day.  I would love to know if you like these first two, and if you have ideas for what you would like to see in the future.  

How about simple id badge reels?  Are you looking for that also?

Orange Energy - Return from the Blogless

I have been away from this blog for far too long.  It's a beautiful Sunday morning over a long weekend, and I am ready to share again on this blog.

Orange is an exciting, energizing, refreshing color. Madlena Gocheva created this beautiful Etsy treasury to wake us up on this Sunday morning.  She features all kinds of lovely orange items from a fine art painting of orange poppies that just glow to a baby headband with a lovely orange flower.  And she was so kind to include my orange lucite flower ring.  Take a look at this fine collection below.

Blue Flower Antiqued Brass Filigree Victorian Style Hair Comb, Nickel Free

This romantic Victorian style hair comb displays a lovely blue resin dahlia flower on a filigree antiqued brass comb. Place this in you hair for a dressy event or to wear with a light weight outfit in the spring or summer.



The comb is 2 1/4"(5.7 cm) across and 2"(5.1 cm) from top to bottom of the teeth. It is made from nickel free antiqued brass.

Aqua Necklace Glass Briolettes, Freshwater Pearls, Sterling Silver

Soft and dreamy, this lovely aqua and white necklace will bring a smile to your face and admiring glances from others. I thoroughly enjoyed designing and handcrafting this necklace.



Five beautiful faceted aqua glass briolettes adorn the front of this necklace. These are complemented by white freshwater pearls, aqua Czech glass faceted crystals, and sterling silver beads.

Apple Red Jade Silver Earrings

These apple red earrings make me think of crunchy apples. These earrings were created from 10 mm red jade beads topped with a Czech glass green leave. Dangling from this is a silver apple. The silver apple is the same on the front and the back.



Length of earrings beneath earwire is 1" (2.5 cm).

Antiqued Brass Flower Cuff Bracelet Peach Rose Cabochon -

I think these filigree cuff bracelets are so romantic, and they invite decorating them with lucite flowers. I selected this lovely peach rose to go with the antiqued brass tone. This is a beautiful rose cabochon that is centered on the filigree bracelet.



The cuff is adjustable to most wrists.



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Antique Brass Square Pendant Necklace

This necklace features a large square pendant made of a metal alloy with an antique brass finish. Five small bright glass beads in cranberry and purple colors are handwrapped with antique brass wire and hang from the embossed square. The necklace chain is made from large loops of metal with an antique brass finish.



The chain is 20" long, and the square plus the beads add a

1 3/4" drop....

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Summer Like Weather in the Rockies

It is like a warm summer's day here today in Northern Colorado.  I have the window's open and the ceiling fans on.  A warm delightful breeze feels delicious.  It's a lazy Sunday afternoon.

When peeking at my Etsy shop, I discovered that one of my favorite necklaces is included in a treasury called Summer Mood. It was curated by Ina Spiro, and is refreshing to look at.  Ina is from Jerusalem, Israel and has an Etsy shop called Leris.  She makes scarves, felted items, handpainted shirts and jewelry.

'Summer mood' by Leris

Please join!

Yellow covered medium handma... Buntmal $35.00	Felted Cube Bead Necklace fo... FeltStory $35.00	Good Morning fine art photog... IrinaPhotograp... $20.00
Easter / Passover pink baby ... bonbonLand $19.50	Girl Neckwarmer, Childs Scar... daisiescrochet $29.00	RESERVED for Michelle Wool ... manonknits $165.00
Floral Colors, Beige, Pink, ... renklitasariml... $55.00	Cocktail Shaker - Dragon Pet... woodeyeglass $25.00	Necklace - Red Yellow Orange... Plumbeadacious $23.00
OOAK Hand-Guided Machine Emb... BelleCoccinell... $19.00	Yellow Orange and Ivory fea... MillieICARO $59.00	Set of 2-Bridal Lace Weddi... WeddingForYou $18.00
Felt flowers hair clip - yel... urBunny $12.00	Handmade European Charm Bead... susansheehan $8.00	Fall Golden Yellow and Orang... AbsintheCustom... $4.00
Pretty BUTTERFLY Monarch YEL... CedarCreekPatc... $4.55

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Do You Like Flower Charm Bracelets

I have oftened admired flower charm bracelets that I see on Etsy. On occasion I design and create one. It just does something for my creative spirit and femininity to do this. I wear this type of bracelet on occasion, but most of the time it is just too dangly and lush for me to feel comfortable wearing.

This bracelet is totally feminine with its purple shades of lucite flowers, pearls, and crystals. I was in the mood to go all out for a fun spring frilly bracelet. Oodles of beads and flowers are hand wire wrapped ( yes one by one at a time) to a bright silver plated chain. A heart shaped clasp completes the bracelet. It�s just Plum Beadacious!

How do you feel about dangly flowery charm bracelets?




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Bracelet: Mermaid Purple Czech Glass Clam Shell Beads

Mermaids are such wonderful imaginary beings. When I found these delightful mermaid toggle clasps, I just had to get a few of them to try out on my jewelry creations. I had some lovely purple clamshell Czech glass beads so I was set to design this very special bracelet.



Notice the detail of the mermaid in the picture of the toggle clasp. Her fin splashes across the ocean waves.

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Antique Brass Owl Trio Pendant Green Czech Glass Necklace

Time to look towards spring! This cute owl trio is sitting on a branch on this pendant just waiting to make you smile. I created this necklace using green Czech glass leaf beads, soft green with Czech glass faceted roundells with a Picasso finish, and tiny faceted Czech glass crystals with shades of pink and yellow. These beads and crystals are handwrapped with antique brass wire to antique brass chain.
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