Smart Design - Eye Glasses Holder

Instead of a bead, I was anxious to show you this ingenious design for holding your eye glasses!

My Mom wore it home from Florida this week to show me.

This is a design my Dad came up with for her and lots of friends who wanted an easy and cute way to keep track of their glasses without having to connect them to a chain.

He used the round end of a toggle clasp and crimped one end of beading wire to it, added a miscellaneous bead mix and ended it by crimping the other end to the toggle. This fits over the head and one arm of the glasses slides through the toggle!!

So cute and so smart! What a GREAT idea! :)

NEW BEADS!!

I read a great blog post over the weekend that really stuck with me. It was by Deb of Green Shoot Jewellery Designs. She mentioned that she and her family had been under the weather, but she had received two packages of beads from different designers which completely cheered her up!

How wonderful! Her post is titled, "new beads" and you can really feel the cheer in her writing!

She had ordered beads from the recently featured, Shannon LeVart, and from Gaea Ceramic Bead Designs.

Gorgeous! If you get a second to pop over to these great blogs, I am sure you will find something that will bring you a little sunshine and cheer too! :)

Super Simple Gnome Earrings

Reason #1 that these earrings were so simple to make today was that I had already painted, decopauged and drilled a hole in them a year ago! :)

I can't believe I found them in the bottom of a bead box! I always think things like that are meant to be, so I didn't try to second or third guess myself about making "simple" earrings out of these decopauged wooden rounds.

These are plain wood rounds from the craft store. You usually get about 10 or so in a bag for a couple bucks.

I remember creating these using pictures of my real-life gnomes with a different picture for the front and back, but completely forgot

whatever happened to them.

So, even if you aren't a gnome fan, you could consider using the same technique with kids pics, your blog title/pic, book cover if you are an author, OR if you really want to have a conversation piece, put your own photo on a pair of earrings!!

How fun would that be? :)

I hope you have had a wonderfully creative and fun weekend!

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!!

I'm switching things up a bit tonight... Instead of a jewelry design, I'm posting the Sunday links for a change of pace.

In truth, it's because I have been working on another project today and didn't get my jewelry project done!!

The idea in my head was so simple, but it wasn't exactly working out. SO, back to the drawing board tomorrow in hopes of sharing some GNOME earrings with you!! :) Please stay tuned!! In the mean time, there are some great links below!!

Beads & Books
Win a copy of two novels: Waking Up in the Land of Glitter and Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing.

About.com Jewelry Making
It's the perfect time to make your own luck with this lucky earring tutorial.

Beading Arts
Mixing traditional embroidery with beads leads to a garden full of promises...

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie shares some of her process and inspiration for her new Earthen Oxide collage key pendants

Art Bead Scene
Stop by and see the Art Bead Scene's Monthly Challenge painting.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi uses an image of Anna Pavlova for her new necklace idea.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Inspired by Calder and Medieval crowns, Andrew sets out to create his own crown out of wire and Roman Glass.

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
In this week's rewind, Cindy hammers home a point about tools.

The Bead Dreamer
Inspired by signs that spring is on the way, Charlene creates a lush leaf and flower bracelet and pair of earrings.

Featured Designer: Shannon LeVart

Happy Friday!! It's a perfect moment and I am cherishing it! :)

To celebrate, I wanted to share these super fun bracelets with you by Shannon LeVart of the blog, MissFickleMedia.

I just love the colored chains with a simple stone, but there is something more complex about them that makes me smile!

LOVE these!! Shannon has some fabulous pieces in her etsy site, if you are interested in more cool stuff!

THANKS SHANNON!

Final Sweepstakes

One more day, YAY!! For me, it's more than just a weekend coming up, IT'S A WEEK OFF!

Wow! I am patting myself on the back for requesting the time off!! I have an opportunity to stick around close to home and spend lots of time with my Mom who is coming home from Florida to pick up my niece for her spring break the following week.

It's going to work out perfectly so we will have time to just lounge around, craft, laugh, eat, drink, be lazy and maybe visit the new Hobby Lobby! I am blessed in so many ways!! :)

I wanted to use tonight's post to mention there is less than a week before Artbeads.com announces the winner of their ROAD TO TUCSON SWEEPSTAKES!!

The prize package includes round trip airfare for two to Tucson, Arizona to attend the Gem, Mineral and fossil showcase, 3 nights hotel accommodations and classes with renowned beading instructors. DON'T MISS OUT on the opportunity to enter. It is SO EASY!! Entries are accepted through March 16th!

Until tomorrow, here's some extra sparkliness! :)

If You Love Gnomes...

You know, once you start having a conversation about gnomes, it's not that easy to change the subject!!

After yesterday's post, I have to

admit I've been in the gnome zone!

I just love these little guys. Our collection includes many gnomes with garden tools or riding animals,

driving cars or hugging deer!!

Seriously, there are some cute gnomes out there!! The gnome in this picture is actually a BEAD!! It is made to resemble the founder/owner of the bead company, Rings-Things.com!

How fun would that be to have a gnome bead made in your likeness?! :)

Here is a link to the Russ Troll bead. Enjoy!