A Fresh New Perspective

Guess what I found?!

Two giant grab-bags of cool plastic beads!! $2 a piece at Big Lots! Yay! I'm so excited and luckily for my bank account, easily entertained!!

I would LOVE to share them with you all at once, but you know I enjoy spotlighting them one by one! Trust me, you'll enjoy the ride!! There are some fun and funky beads in these packages!!

I noticed two particular beads right off the bat...one in each package.

The first one is this adorable "engraved" heart bead. It seemed like a much more expensive bead...a special treasure.

My first thought is that it should be paired with a tassel and some milky white and sparkly swarovski crystals, yumm!

Let me know what you think!

Quick Gift Project

As a continuation of yesterday's post, the bracelet project is done, packaged up and ready to go to the retirement party tomorrow.

I didn't get started until about 10pm tonight, so all things considered, I think it turned out very simple but cute.

I threw in earrings and a nice gift card to round things out!! :)

I will miss my friend very much, but the pleasure of knowing she is out there having a great time, living life will make up for that and then some!!

Special Retirement Bracelet

A very good friend is retiring this week after 30 years. It's been 21 years since my first day on the job and she happened to be one of the first people I met...wow, time flies!

It's an exciting time! I personally LOVE seeing people retiring in their 50's so they can explore their passion and creativity through hobbies and part time jobs while reaping the rewards of sacrificing for the last 30 years by remaining with a company through many ups and downs!

I'm torn between making something crazy and funky, possibly using a bunch of inexpensive plastic beads OR making something simple and sparkly using some nice crystals.

Maybe I've answered my own question...a COMBO! Okay, I better get to thinking on this one!

Since I haven't made anything with the other leftover blue sparkly beads I recycled from another coworker last week, they could be making an appearance in this piece as well. Seems appropriate since the beads came from another co-worker.

I'll keep you posted, I have to get it done tomorrow!! My favorite kind of motivation...time crunch!

Peace, Love and Bead Bloggers!

I hope you are ready for some fun blog hopping! Our friends below are sharing studio space, how to's, design ideas, craft store updates and news from BeadFest!

Here's wishing you all a wonderful new week, enjoy!! :)

The Bead Dreamer
What does it mean to really be ready - to sell online, to succeed... Charlene shares some thoughts and talks about where she is with this journey.

Art Bead Scene
ABS Editor, Jennifer shares how to create a look for a store/gallery.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Returning from Philadelphia, Andrew gives a recap of BeadFest!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean points out a lovely book which is a bestseller which she has a project in: Best of BeadStyle, Vol. 7 ! Please come and see how pretty it is!

Beading Arts
Want to add a bezel to a curved surface? Cyndi shows you one easy way to do it!

Beads & Books
Michelle uses the story of Cinderella to inspire a pair of earrings and shares a related upcoming challenge at Stringing magazine.

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Cindy reviews Steel Wire Jewelry.

Carmi's Art/Life World
This week will be "etched" into Carmi's summer memories as she blogs for John Bead.

About.com Jewelry Making
Craft stores have come a long way with the jewelry supplies they now offer. Take this quick poll about your own craft store experience.

Resin Crafts!
There is a new series this week featuring EasyCast clear casting epoxy.

Weekend Jewelry: What to wear

Do you wear the same jewelry from day to day that you wear on a special occasion? That question came to mind as I was preparing to head out with my Mom, sister and niece to see Jersey Boys.

I hadn't heard of the show until my Mom brought it up, it's about the career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Even these days, going to a show still requires some sort of dressing up or wearing clothes that you might not wear every day.

Jewelry was a last minute thought and I ended up wearing the same pieces I wear on any other day. Here are a couple of them...

I think they worked well and I love the fact you can wear the same thing whether you are dressing up or down!

NOW, the order of the day is making a piece of jewelry to remember the show by! More on that another day!

Design Partner Blog

Happy Weekend everyone! As usual, I am sitting here on a Friday night trying to figure out how much time I can spend during the next two days expressing my creativity!

For now, I wanted to share with you that Artbeads.com has updated their blog with all of the jewelry pieces created by their design partners. I do have a piece in there, I believe in gallery 2. It's the macrame bracelet with all kinds of crazy vintage glass beads knotted in AND dangling from it! :)

Wait till you see all the wonderful and amazing pieces out there. It's a great place to find inspiration!

Artbeads.com also has a nice Learning Center if you are looking for instructions.

Colorful Beads & Bead Shop

What GREAT colors! You probably know by now that I have a tendency to get a bee in my bonnet occasionally and vintage beads happen to be a recurring theme!

While searching for interesting "new" old beads, I discovered the coolest little bead shop right here in my own state! NICE! (Thanks Google!)

I knew I couldn't keep this to myself, so here we go!

Beads & Things has both a website and facebook page with lots of fun

pictures and stories.

Their profile states they have "offered a space for people to explore their creativity since 1990." Way to go Beads & Things!

I was saving the best for last! Here's a pic of their store. Makes me wish it was right down the street from me!

Here's a bit more info, enjoy!

Shop Info

New Beads

Fun with Vintage Beads!

Just in case you have a collection of fun and interesting vintage or plastic beads, I wanted to share this bracelet that you might remember from a year or so ago.

A friend and I had visited a paper crafting store and workshop where they had a treasure chest FILLED with these beads. The best part was the shovel! Yes, there was a plastic shovel for digging through them! The total price for two baggies was probably $2.

I have to tell you that was one of the highlights of my entire jewelry making career! There was something special about digging through a bucket of beads and finding little deer charms, smiley faces, eyeballs, 4 leaf clovers and much more!

I think finding an experience that transports you back to childhood is simply priceless! :)

More Vintage Beads

That's right...MORE vintage beads, I just can't help myself!! These lucite flowers are some of my faves.

After yesterday's post about recycling beads from someone's broken necklace I got one of those thoughts in my head that I couldn't shake.

I need to look for more vintage beads!! I did a quick google search and these were some of the sites that floated to the top.

Enjoy! If you know of any others I left out, please leave a comment and a link! :)

BeadEssence.com

A Grain of Sand

The Beadin Path

Vintage Beads Laramie Studio

MK Beads

This Week's Project: Repurposed Beads

This week's project was made with repurposed blue faceted glass beads that someone gave me quite a while ago. I remember she had an older necklace that had broken and she wasn't interested in having something made with them, but also didn't want to toss them out.

When I picked up a new blouse in a powder blue color over the weekend I actually remembered these beads and really wanted to make something new to wear with it.

Then I remembered these beads! (Thanks Kay!)

They are so pretty and sparkly! I think there are a few beads left for a bracelet so that's what I am making next!

This was intended to be fairly conservative and simple so I strung the main focal piece on beading wire and crimped it to a length of 5 or 6 chain links in matte silver tone.

I then strung 3 or 4 crystals on either side with beading wire and crimped that to the final chain links. The last step was adding a very cute matte silver toggle clasp.

The earrings were simple too! Just a couple of chain links, a clear bicone and a small blue bead on the end.

Easy, inexpensive :) and simple!

Peace, Love and Bead Bloggers!

Hey guys, I wanted to share some exciting news from Amazon.com. I'm available for the Kindle! Well, not me really, but my book "A Bead in Time" is! Yay! If you happen to see it downloaded on a Kindle, I'd love to hear what you think!!

AND now... more good news! Below are some great links to our bead blogger pals who always seem to have lots of interesting things going on. This week there are giveaways, books, new designs and challenges. Check it out!

About.com Jewelry Making
Set up your jewelry designing by making the perfect jewelry sets.

Art Bead Scene
Try something different with your art beads - ribbon!

The Bead Dreamer
Charlene shares her dreamy mermaid necklace and links to other participants in her first ever jewelry challenge.

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Need some iron in your jewelry diet? Tuesday Tangle has just what you're looking for!

Carmi's Art/Life World
Margot Potter's new book inspired Carmi's new linked necklace.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew introduces the twelve, talented designers that make up the NEW Allegory Gallery Design Team!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
How to win the great giveaway of Maggie Meister's Classical Elagance--an amazing and breathtaking book! See jean's blog!

Beading Arts
The "Mostly Metal" challenge was a great success, many thnaks to Michelle Mach! Come and see all the fun pieces that were made.

Resin Crafts

Carmi uses a great new mold to make people donuts.

Featured Designer:Sandi James of Do Be Do Bead Do

You are going to love this! The fact that Sandi James named her blog, "Do Be Do Bead Do" is too cute, but the tagline is the best!!

It reads, "A mix of Frank Sinatra's charm and Sandi Mazell James' Polymer clay beaded jewelry, tossed together gently with a sprinkling of life.

That's GREAT!

Sandi and I were emailing recently about a post to feature her work on A Bead A Day and by the time we were through talking, Sandi thought it would be fun if we did a giveaway with one of her unique polymer clay creations!! YAY!

Thanks to Sandi's generosity, I'll announce a winner next Saturday and pass them on to a lucky beader!! Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win! This photo is of the beads she made and passed along to her Bead Soup partner recently as part of that challenge.

In her profile, Sandi mentions that has a serious addiction to beads, loves everything beady and has been up to her ears in beads and everything crafty since she was about 5 years old thanks to her mother who taught craft classes!

Hey, we love the bead addicted over here on A Bead A Day!! Thanks so much for allowing me to share your creativity tonight Sandi!!

A Big THANK YOU!

Yay, it's the weekend! I'm going to save this week's featured
designer (& special giveaway) post for tomorrow because I thought it would be a good time tonight to say, "THANKS!"

Thanks for stopping by to show support, have a conversation, be a friend, offer great advice and suggestions! It means so much to me!!

Here's a quick list of some who have recently commented and have blogs of their own or etsy sites. Please join me in a quick trip through the happy blogosphere to visit!

T-Rose Leigh of Glory Hound Designs

Anna Marie Yoakum of A Beader's Blog

Skye of Creative Chaos

Shaiha of Shaiha's Ramblings

Shirley of Beads & Bread

Susan Roper of Artisan Jewelry by Susan Roper

T.Rusk4U

Linda B of Linda B's Beaded Jewelry

Charlene of The Bead Dreamer

Holly of Silver Rose Designs

Karen O'Donnell

Shawna of Front Range Beads

m.e. of Bee Tree by m.e.

Kathleen of Modern Nature Studio

Mary of Birch Bark Beads

Flying Beader of SpeedieBeadie

Amethyst & Rose Quartz Teardrops

What do you think about these briolettes? I am sort of loving them!

I found the color combo on Firemountaingems.com and would like to use them as dangles on yesterday's bracelet.

What do you think?

The Firemountain catalog reads, Amethyst and rose quartz 8x5mm-11x8mm hand cut graduated faceted teardrop briolette B grade.

Silver Plated Dangle Bracelet

Check out the cute little dangle on this bracelet...that's what sold me!

I picked up this package at the same time as yesterday's copper kit. They are quite different in style and color, but they are from the same manufacturer. The name on the package is Jewelry Fundamentals.

Even though this package does not use the "kit" reference, it actually contains headpins and jump rings for adding more beads, very nice!

The possibilities are ENDLESS with this one! Since it is silver plated, it would look great with just about any color combo.

It might be fun to use the colors of the rainbow for dangles, but it would also be fun to use turquoise mix and throw in a few seaside charms. :)

What do you think?

Antique Copper Kit AND Crystal Giveaway Winner

I picked up a couple packages of chain that were on sale at the craft store a few weeks ago and apparently lost track of them in the shuffle until today.

The name on the package is Jewelry Fundamentals and is labeled, "Antique Copper Necklace & Bracelet Kit". Included is a 22" necklace, 8" bracelet, head pins and jump rings. Looks like all I need to add are beads!

I liked the idea of the packaged kit, but my first thoughts were how can I chop this up and make a multi-strand charm bracelet?! Time to get the beads out, but I'd love to get your thoughts on the type of beads to add. I would normally go with the standard route of earthy stones with this copper chain, but I'm thinking it would be fun to try some bright, cheerful colors. What do you think?

By the way, since there were so many great comments for this month's Swarovski Crystal giveaway, I decided it made more sense to use Random.org to pick a winner.

So, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the Swarovski Crystal 20mm Cosmic Pendant in Crystal Red Magma is Eleanor Brown who you might recognize as the maker of "Fiber Beads". Yay & congrats!

Stay tuned for the September giveaway which is practically right around the corner. :)

Bird's Nest Jewelry

I received an email today from someone trying to find instructions for making a bird's nest bracelet. I was thinking she probably meant the chainmaille bird's nest bracelet, but I couldn't be sure.

While I was searching online, I came across these adorable birds nest pendants! I really wanted to share these with you tonight because they are so darn cute! The instructions are from "All Free Beaded Jewelry".

The description reads, "This DIY Bird's nest necklace is one of our favorite patterns for making wire jewelry because it is so simple to make and so easy to personalize."

If you have any other thoughts on this or advice for making a different type of "birds nest bracelet", please share!

Thanks everyone! :)

Book Giveaway Winner!

Yay!! I love announcing winners!!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week's blog post for a chance to win a copy of Margot Potter's book, "New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry, Unexpected Combinations, Unique Designs".

The winner is: Holly of Silver Rose Designs

Yay, Holly!!

For those of you who are still hoping for a copy, I'm going to do another giveaway of this book in the very near future, so stay tuned! I'll make sure to get the word out when the time comes.

I hope everyone has had a fun a creative weekend AND wish you all a great week!

Peace, Love and Bead Blogger Saturday!

It's always hard to believe another weekend has arrived so quickly! One of my very favorite things to do is popping over to as many bead-blogging sites as I can to see what everyone is up to!

I am ALWAYS so amazed at the interesting new things they have going on. This week Tammy Powley from About.com is talking about "twisted jewelry"! It makes me wish we were all neighbors and could spend at least a couple hours beading together on the weekend! :) I hope you are all doing something fun and crafty!!

Make sure to stop by tomorrow when I will announce the winner of Margot Potter's new book! If you haven't thrown your name in the ring yet, there is still time - click here! :)

About.com Jewelry Making
Get twisting with your beads and learn to make a very cool twisted strand necklace with this bead weaving technique.

Art Bead Scene
Come check out the August challenge!

Beading Arts
Cyndi is celebrating bead embroidery month on Beading Arts! Come find out how you can get started.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi is experimenting with Apoxie Sculpt and rubber stamps to make pendants!

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Cindy's got a new tool on her workbench, a rolling mill. Check out the jewelry pieces that have rolled out onto her bench!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean is getting verrrry excited, anticipating Michelle Mach's Mostly Metal Challenge! Come read about it!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
In an effort to help launch Allegory Gallery, Andrew announces the Allegory Gallery Fundraiser! Make a donation and receive a prize for your support!

Featured Designer: Mary Ewell of Birch Bark Beads

Okay everyone, you are going to LOVE this!!

This week's featured designer, Mary Ewell, makes beads out of Birch Bark!! How amazing! You can find her work on her Etsy site.

In addition to making beads, Mary is also starting to make jewelry and suncatchers that incorporate birch bark beads.

Mary is from Alpena, Michigan (US) and mentioned she is currently preparing a fine art piece for the Northeast Michigan Artists Juried Exhibition. How exciting!

I love hearing about people who just walk out their front door to find inspiration and pieces of nature to turn into artwork. Here's a link to Mary's blog for even more pics and info! What a treat!

I am in awe!! What do you think?

Vintage Beads from Europe

Today's bead is actually a bead mix! This ultra fun vintage teal bead mix definitely comes under the category of "Fabulous Finds"!

I'd love to hear your reaction to these Vintage Beads from Europe. This is a new store that is just getting off the ground and after seeing the teddy bear in this bead mix, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. :)

Once you see all the bead mixes arranged by color you might wonder, as I did, how a person could assemble these without just taking out a can of spray paint! Shop owner, Vente, has a great eye and also a bit of a collector's soul!

The description of the shop reads, "...your best source for vintage beads and other jewelry supplies! We offer a wide selection of rare and unusual vintage beads, charms, cabochons, findings, buttons, jewelry and accessories as well as superior customer service. Most of our beads date 1950's - 1980's (some are even older!) and come from West Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. All of our beads are new old stock (unused) and we hand inspect each of them before shipping to ensure perfect quality. We stock over 300 diferent varieties at the moment and the number is growing daily!"

Wow, how fun! I hope you get a chance to take a peek AND share your reaction! :)

Bicycle Pendant

Is this the most ADORABLE bead?!

It was created by our friend and ceramic artist, Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studios!

I just love her work!

I'm thinking this bicycle pendant would make a great gift on a simple cord or even an intricate beaded necklace, depending on the recipient.

If I was making something for myself, I would definitely try to work this into a bracelet! How about you?

AZ Lampwork Beads

Check out these sweet handmade lampwork beads by AZ Lampwork Beads! The colors are so fun together, they remind me of spinart!

I mentioned a while back that I recently joined the world of 4G cell phone users and have had lots of fun looking for free apps to download for the purpose of enriching my life.

Yep, you guessed it...I have a talking dog, the magic 8 ball and the coin flip. Over the weekend I found, SPIN ART!

I couldn't resist and think I even paid a dollar or two for it. Lots of fun!

You know, it really does remind me of the real spin art toy that spins while squeezing out drops of paint over it.

Here's one I just made on my phone. So cute!

Aqua Cathedral Bead

Doesn't the name of this bead just sound gorgeous and special?

The color of this torch fired enamel bead is the most perfect color of blue! You might recognize the torch-fire artist who created it...Barbara Lewis.

She has some very special pieces in her etsy shop.

The description of this bead reads, "This Aqua Cathedral bead is one of the many that we torch-fire in our studios ... one bead at a time. This 23 mm x 12.5mm bead is featherweight. You could make an entire necklace of these large beads and never know you were wearing it! That's one ofthe advantages, besides the intrinsic beauty of torch-fired enamel."

It's so fun to share special little finds like this!! :)

Book Review & Giveaway!

Yay, the time has come to share my review of Margot Potter's book, "New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry"!

This book is chock full of gorgeously photographed and creatively inspired jewelry.

Right off the bat, Margot beautifully describes the entire book in just one short, sweet and poetic paragraph:

"...We'll explore wire wrapping, twisting, coiling, crochet, jigs, chainmaille and more. We'll create architecturally and sculpturally inspired designs with beading wire and beads. We'll find new pathways of creative exploration and wander down them to see what we might discover. We'll make some interesting discoveries and a few glorious mistakes. Along the way, we'll hopefully learn some new techniques and form some fresh ideas..."

Ahh, makes me want to go grab a bunch of supplies and spread them out all around me!

I could stretch out this review to several blog posts, but I want to give you a chance to discover this book for yourself! What I do want to share are a couple of the things that I LOVED and a couple of the things that I learned.

The first chapter includes wire crochet and when I saw the giant crochet hook she was using, the first thought I had was, "uh, yeah, that would make crocheting with wire MUCH easier than using a regular sized yarn hook!" Why didn't I know that or think of that? I'm so excited to get one of those big hooks so I can revisit this process!

One more thing I just have to mention in case, like me, you have passed by the "spool knitter" tool and wondered how to use it to knit wire for jewelry pieces. I can't even tell you how many times I stopped to read the back of the package and work through the details in my mind, but was never brave enough to take the leap. Yay Margot! She has used it for a fabulously artsy piece and also shares a big secret for incorporating beads!! Love it!

Some of Margot's wire pieces are delicate and sweet while others pack a punch, but the step by step instructions and photos make it all look so easy! Throughout the pages she is cutting, bending, pounding and stringing with joy. You can really feel it through the colors, interesting techniques and excitement in her words.

The colorful dragonfly necklace pictured here is one of my faves because it is crafty and fun!

In the architectural chapter, I have to admit there was a serious favorite called "Calder". For this necklace, Margot was inspired by artist, Alexander Calder. I was surprised at how the simple and unique twisting and joining of wire created a gentle work of art for your neck. This is quietly fabulous, I hope you get a chance to see this one!

Margot has used buttons and lucite pieces I have never seen before to join her crafter's soul with her jewelry making skills in this book and I am so honored to have a chance to tell you about it.

AND, to offer a free copy to one lucky winner!! Just leave a comment on this post throughout the week and I'll select a random winner next Sunday. Good luck and thanks a million Margot!

Peace, Love and Bead Blogger Saturday!

Wow, look at all the cool things going on in the bead-blogger world! Fun and exciting! From how-to's to giveaways and reviews!!

Here's a sneak peek at Carmi's resin pendant made in candy

molds!! :) Enjoy!

About.com Jewelry Making
Here are some recipes and tutorials for cleaning up your gorgeous jewelry.

Beading Arts
Cyndi shares step by step how she engineered one of her recent bead embroidery pieces.

Beads & Books
Share the name of your favorite glass beadmaker for a chance to win a copy of the book Creating Glass Beads.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has a link to her new Faux Solder technique for John Bead blog.

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Come take a look at Cindy's charming experiments!

Resin Crafts!
Carmi shows off a sweet resin heart pendant made in a candy mold.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reviews the fab new book by wonderful Margot Potter, New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry. PLUS, she has a GIVEAWAY of this super book! Race like a bunny to Jean's blog for all the information! You won't be sorry!

The Bead Dreamer
Charlene shares her review and enthusiasm for Maggie Meister's Classical Elegance bead weaving book.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew reveals the August Reader's Challenge Design Kit filled with sizzling summer reds!

Featured Designer: Christine Hansen

Happy weekend everyone!! We have the super-talented Christine Hansen as this week's featured designer, yay!!

She has written a very cool book entitled, "Making Mixed Media Art Charms & Jewelry", along with her friend Peggy Krzyzewski.

Christine's work and book are located in her Artfire shop along with some of her lampwork beads AND Art Charms, nice!

Her Artfire shop profile reads, "Welcome! I combine my handmade lampwork beads and mixed media ArtCharms with pearls, swarovski crystals and sterling silver for fun!"

"What's an ArtCharm? An ArtCharm is basically a tiny work of art with a jump ring on it for attaching to something - it could be attached to a bracelet, or used as a pendant, or incorporated into home decor. ArtCharms may be made of almost any kind of material, using almost any kind of artistic technique."

"An ArtCharm is the product of an individual artist or collaborative group, but not something that has been cranked out in a factory."

"Many contemporary artists are making and swapping ArtCharms."

Wow, that sounds like so much fun!! Thanks a million Christine!

Get Ready for Sunday's Book Review/Giveaway!

Tonight's post is a reminder to come back on Sunday for a chance to win

Margot Potter's fabulous new book, "New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry"!

I have to tell you my heart swelled over so many projects in this book! Margot has a truly crafty soul!

To catch up on what's she's been doing lately, including her work on Jewelry Television, here's a link to her blog...OR, just come back here on Sunday and read all about it!! :)

The Wall of beads!

What a great picture of a fabulous wall of beads!!

This is from the Anderson's Bead Room in Port Charlotte, Florida. I've only been there once with my parents, but it was very memorable and if you are near the area, make sure you stop by now that they have moved to a new and larger store!

I vividly remember all the beads I purchased AND the tools because I hadn't brought any with me on this trip! Once I saw the beads I needed, there was no way I was waiting till I got home to Ohio to work with them!!!

I would LOVE to find a bead store that I can visit virtually in real time. If you have heard of or seen such a thing, PLEASE let me know!

Having a Swarovski Crystal Moment!

Sometimes when I think about Swarovski crystals, I get caught up in the fairy tale sparkle!!

So, when I see them in real life, I can feel my happiness meter jump and the corners of my mouth turn up!

Very similar to what happens when I see a cute puppy or a yummy bakery cake!

I have a favorite "collection" which I have mentioned here before, but I wanted to get some input from all of you because I think it's time for me to move on to a new color palette.

That's where all of you come in! I'm looking to be influenced or swayed by YOUR favorite collection.

The person with the most creative or influential comment will be selected as the winner of this month's swarovski crystal giveaway!

By the way, it's the Swarovski 6680 20mm Cosmic Pendant Crystal Red Magma!

Rebellious Jewelry Findings!

Rebel Shine! What a perfect name for these shiny metal spacers! Made by Cousin and on clearance at the craft store, it was an easy purchasing decision to make!! :)

Sometimes deep down and other times just beneath the surface, my rebel spirit is alive and well! It's a lot of fun when I'm able to tap into it for the purpose of creative expression!

I enjoy my jewelry so much more when I know I have broken "standard" rules about the use of colors, materials or techniques. It's that old school crafter in me that wants to put glitter on everything! :)

Speaking of jewelry making rebelliousness, if you are familiar at all with Margot Potter, you have definitely seen a bit of the rebel!! In fact, Margot proudly exclaims that she "colors outside the lines"!

I have a HUGE surprise for you guys....I am excited and honored to report that I will be sharing my review of Margot Potter's new book with you this weekend and MOST IMPORTANTLY will be giving away a copy, fresh off the presses!

Released last week, and thanks to Margot, you could be one of the first to get your hands on a copy! YAY!

More info to come later in the week with the actual giveaway post on Sunday, so stay tuned!!