What-A-Clasp!

As I mentioned yesterday I received an extremely cool bag of goodies from Rings & Things as part of their Blog Partner Program! How EXCITING!!

There were some very cool pieces in there and this was certainly one of them. This clasp is so much fun, it defiinitely seems like an afternoon was spent antiquing!

LOVE this!! I really want and need to be able to see this in a jewelry piece so it is going to have to be in a bracelet. PLEASE send me your thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.

This is going to be so much fun to play with!! :) Have a great evening!

FTC compliance disclosure, notice of material connections: the item in the previous post from Rings&Things was provided as a promotional gift as part of the Blog Partner Program for review or design purposes. More info about the Rings & Things Blog Partner Program

FUN STUFF: Idea-ology™ Muse Token

This is going to be a fun week!! I received the coolest package on Saturday from Rings & Things as part of the Blog Partner Program. This was the epitome of surprise grab bags with such a wide variety of pieces, there seemed to be a tad bit of irony to it.

I can't wait to show you everything!! It was not easy selecting the first bead to show you, but it just seemed to find it's way to the top of the list. For Tim Holtz fans out there, you're going to love this!

The description in the catalog reads: Idea-ology™, Muse Tokens (Antiqued Metals), Approx. 1" Tim Holtz® idea-ology muse tokens with various words and letter cut outs. Package of 12 tokens. Copper, pewter and brass antiqued finishes.

I just love this one with the word, Forevermore, and think the cutout of the letter "F" makes it so adorable! You've really got to click on the link above to see the actual package that includes all 12 pieces. My other favorites shown on the package are: Unique, Wonderful & Journey. I love the antique quality and feel like I found this in a flea market or something.

This would work great as a standalone charm on an interesting bracelet chain or a pendant with a bunch of sparkly crystals hanging around it in different lengths. I'm not sure yet, but wish it wasn't so late so I could get my beads out!! :)

Hope your week is off to a nice start!

FTC compliance disclosure, notice of material connections: the item in the previous post from Rings&Things was provided as a promotional gift as part of the Blog Partner Program for review or design purposes. More info about the Rings & Things Blog Partner Program

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!

Everyone has been so crafty this weekend and many are preparing for holiday sales. I've seen some holiday craft shows taking place in my neighborhood already this weekend.

I was at JoAnn, Etc. last night and they were playing holiday music!! It does have a tendency to make me smile and feel more friendly toward others.

Even though the temperature here has been unseasonably warm and gorgeous this weekend, I am pretty sure I'm transitioning into the holiday spirit! That's a good thing and even though I try to have it all year long, it seems different around this time of year because so many other people are feeling it at the same time.


So, to round out the weekend, we just finished watching the old classic holiday movie with Cary Grant, the Bishop's Wife. There are so many good things about it that I could go on and on, but the last words go something like this:


"...let us each put in his share..... loving kindness, warm hearts, and the stretched out hand of tolerance, all the shining gifts that make peace on earth"

So nice...

I hope you all have a great week and if you have an extra minute to take a quick run through the fun and crafty blog posts below, you are sure to pick up a little extra inspiration!! :)


About.com Jewelry Making
Make it merry with holiday jewelry and crafting ideas.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Liver of Sulfur is finally in Lorelei's repertoire of jewelry techniques.

Snap out of it Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is amazed by the treasures you find in Cynthia Thornton's spectacular wonder of a book, Enchanted Adornments!

Strands of Beads Melissa tries out Friendly Plastic (and likes the results).

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew adds new pieces from Hawaiian artist, Candice Wakumoto, to his shop.

Art Bead Scene
An Art Bead Scene first - the December sponsors collaborate on a special set of art beads for the December monthly challenge prize!

Barbe Saint John - New Treasures from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe is the last link in a Necklace Round Robin, Check out the finished pieces!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi uses a leather button to make a wearable collage.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva
Cindy has developed a new line of jewelry to remind us all to live life slowly and enjoy what we have. First in the series is "Grounded."

Jean Campbell
Jean describes what it's like to edit someone's book and shares her thoughts on Marcia DeCoster's latest, Beaded Opulence.

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi is giving away a copy of Ronna Sarvas Weltman’s unique polymer clay book called "Ancient Modern". Come and get in on this contest!

This Week's Project: First Draft Patchwork Bracelet

I mentioned in Thursday's post that I was hoping to revisit the idea of a patchwork type of crafty bracelet using pieces and parts trimmed from iron on appliques.

Well....I haven't had the chance yet to do that, so I thought I'd go ahead and bravely share the first draft here for all to see :)

I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions for making this work in the future.

I used purple patching material as the base, ironed on all the tiny bits and pieces that I attempted to cut into tiny little squares and rectangles. I then framed the purple with green patching material. My coolest find at the time were these long strips of iron on silver dots. Similar to those stickers to embellishing cell phones, all the dots are aligned on a strip of plastic which is the iron on material and keeps them nicely in order when applying them.

Hopefully you can get an idea of what I was thinking and with fresh ideas I'm sure I can pull off my vision in the future! :)

Thanks, as always, for stopping by and sharing your wonderful ideas and enthusiasm!

Featured Designer: Gaialai Glass Artist

Are you as ready as I am to see these glass art pieces? WOW! I was hopping around in Etsy when I discovered these beads in Gaialai's Shop.

The header reads: Gaialai glass artist - the full life combination between glass colors and shapes.

I don't know that I have ever seen beads like this and then to see how the artist used them in jewelry pieces was exciting!

I also loved the honesty in Sari's welcome statement: "Welcome to my shop!!!I'm a Glass Artist - I'm totally addicted to it!!!"

That is so cool and I think it is very clear Sari's passion comes through in these beautifully unique pieces.

The colors and shapes are amazing and to put them into necklaces in such bold statements seriously catches your attention.

Sari is also a member of the Israel artists Etsy team.

Thanks so much to Sari for allowing me to showcase these pieces!!

Have a great weekend!

Arts & Crafts Week: Dreaming of a Patchwork Quilt

Once you start thinking about it, you can probably come up with some great ideas for using a variety of iron-on appliques in jewelry making.

There seem to be lots more to choose from at the craft store this year, in fact, than last year. I'm not sure why that is, but I always enjoy looking at the fun, unusual, unique and cheerful iron-ons!

Of course, I often gravitate toward the smiley faces and poodles, but when I bought these last year it was for their colors and, in some cases, the tiny little flowers.

I had an idea that I thought was a real winner! Wouldn't it be cool to cut up a bunch of iron on appliques into tiny little pieces and iron them all back together sort of like a crazy patchwork quilt?

See, it sounds very cool, doesn't it?! :)

Well, that was about a year ago and when all was said and done, it wasn't exactly a major failure, but it would certainly be considered a first draft! For some reason it didn't occur to me to keep revising the plan, but I just set it aside.

Now that I have brought this subject up, I really want to try again. I'm still not sure about showing the good old first draft here, but if I can get it a little more like the vision in my head, I might do a "before" and "after" shot down the road.

I'd love to hear your ideas about this if you have a sec!!

Arts & Crafts Week: Sparkly Puff-balls

As Arts & Crafts week continues, I thought you'd love these as much as I do! I have a couple handfuls of these little sparkly puff-balls left and am thinking how fun they would be sewn onto a fabric cuff bracelet of some kind.

These were used for one of my crafts at a craft night extravaganza. I had bought plain knit hats and gloves for everyone and brought lots of embellishments for us to either glue or sew onto them.

I wish I could go back in time and get a photo of the finished products, they were all so great and each so different! I still wear my gloves that I sewed a puff ball in each color to.

The funny thing about my glove project is that I was not paying close enough attention and sewed the embellishments to the same side of each glove. No big deal, I just have to squeeze my thumb into the pinky finger slot on one of them. :)

I'd love to hear more ideas on using these in jewelry projects since I think they are so festive and just in time for the holidays!