Winter Tea

Planning a Winter Tea Party for January.

for some of the elderly ladies

 in our congregation.

We have 18 including ourselves.

My friend Katherine and I decided on 

a Snowflake theme.

Thought I would share some of the projects 

we have been working on for the party.

 A simple snowflake embossed  invitation.

Sizzix embossing folder, Martha Stewart snowflake punch,

Pink glitter paper from DCWV, star brad & sheer white ribbon.

A tea cup made out of recycled mat board.

Sizzix tea cup XL die, DCWV Luxury stack papers,

misc. trims & embellishment.

Katherine is going to crochet scarves for the ladies.

 I was going to do earrings. 

But some of the ladies either don't wear them 

or wear clip-ons.

So I'm gifting the ladies with this style of scarf pin.

Fruit-A-Refic!

I made this especially for Deb.

She loved these fruity glass beads I had in my stash.

I will be giving this to her today as a hostess gift

for an open house she is having today.

It needed some sparkle so I added a chain and attached

half silver faceted round crystals and textured glass pearl beads.

It helped to make sense of the one 

creamy ab colored almond bead.

To finish it off I added a cool toggle clasp.

Carmen Miranda would be proud.

Owl Bracelet

This color combo will always remind me of the 

Miami Dolphins.

Had a lot of fun making this Owl bracelet 

using these colorful and whimsical lamp work beads.

Just makes me happy looking at it.

Living in Florida worked for me.

And I miss living there.

But for now 

I will have to deal with the gray days 

of winter here in Michigan.

Chunky Butterfly Charm Key Chain

 What to do with that one earring because 

the other was lost?

In this case two lonely earrings.

Not that these were fantastic or my favorite color 

or worth anything.

I kept them because someday 

I will be able to re-purpose them.

Today was the day.

 Front (if there is a front)

 Back

laying down

Beaded tassel gifted to me by Caroline.

Lonely earrings gifted to me by Deb.

Misc. metal chain and filigree butterfly 

salvaged from another necklace.

Butterfly image from jewelry collage sheet 

by  Moonlight Journey.

Thanks for looking.

Today's Jewelry Creations

 A fun lamp-work bracelet with a few dangle bits

and an 

Amethyst chip necklace with locket.

Addition materials used for this one are

Lilac stone beads, AB and 1/2 silver Crystals 

and misc. metal findings.

Snow Way!

Way!

Pictures of the first real snow fall this season

Simple Baby Mini

Made this for my friend Amanda. 

She is expecting her second bay girl.

 

I kept it simple. 

The first photo is of the cover. The second is of one of the

10 pages. And the third one is of the back cover. 

All this busy mommy or daddy has to do is add 

photos of their baby girl. 

They are still deciding on the name for the new little one.
A kit similar to this is now for sale in my blog shop.
Thanks for looking.

Abby's Necklace

My new jewelry designer assistant is miss Abigail. 

We like to call her Abby.
She is 4 years old. And cute as a button.

This was her creation tonight. 

Thanks to Caroline from England for 

sending me these lovely cream beads. 

Which Abby fell in love with.

Floral Re-Do

When a clients has cats and little children 

Sometimes the things that you don't want them to play with

 is the very things they can't seem to stay away from.

Somewhere there is a toy desperately seeking his bottom half.
I found it as I was tearing down the arrangement.

Anyway this is the reason why this arrangement  that

 I made and sold over a year ago came back to me for a re-do.
For me a re-do implies using the same material and
 just to fix the damage done by the cats and the little child.

The Interior Designer had an additional request.

Not to make it so "plastic-y" and  

to add something that was "butter-scotchy" in color.
My head is saying, "What!"

I don't make the materials. I just assemble them.

I purchase things that have the most realistic look 

and feel when possible.

She knew that when she purchased it a year ago for her client.

I found her request odd to say the least.

And yes I was irritated.

It took me 4 days to even feel like approaching the project. 

Not to mention I was busy with other commitments.

For me it was no longer a re-do but a redesign. 

To now incorporate some "butter-scotchy" looking plants.

Perhaps I'm limited in my thinking
but the original tropical mix didn't call for this addition.

But what the Designer/customer wants the Designer/customer gets.

Here is the new arrangement.

Photo taken in my floral workshop.

Vintage-y Necklace

Yesterday I made a pretty necklace using the 

Alphonse Mucha Microscopeslides

from Moonlight Journey

Re-purposed some gold neck chain. I don't recall where 

I got the pendant and it is now tarnished. 

Which doesn't bother me. Just adds to the vintage-y look.

Added some brass charms that were gifted to me.

Snagged the glass beads off another older necklace 

that was no longer being worn.

What I did last night

I Just Got the News...

I've been added as a design team member to Moonlight Journey.

Thank You so much Becky and Lynn for this opportunity.

I'm thrilled to be among the many talented ladies on the team.

I will be mixing my jewelry creations with their collage sheets.

This is one of the earrings I made tonight to get my feet wet.

These were made with : 

Images from

Butterfly Pendants ~ 44~1" collage sheet

MoonlightJourney.com

Created by Whymsicalmusings

Design originals bottle caps mini pack

1'' clear acrylic cabochon by Bottle Cap Inc.

Glossy accents,  pearls - peridot color

silver plated jewelry bails & Fishhook earwires

My camera batteries died. 

So I will have to show

the other earrings I made tonight, 

tomorrow.

Free Steam-punk Images from Dover

Earrings for Clara

Clara bought this bracelet from me 

and requested matching earrings.

She loves the kidney shaped ear wires. 

So this is what I came up with for her.

I sure hopes she likes them.

See a Need

Fill a need. 

Friends of mine had transformed 

a small shipping box with shipping tape to close it up

 into a donation box.

While it would fill the need for which it was intended.
I thought to myself...we can do a little better.

I will be surprising them with this box.

I hope they like it.

Crystal & Blue

Simply strung beaded necklace.

Using Lamp-work beads and Swarovski crystals.

This set is similar to the one that was purchased 

at the Jewelry open house I had.

 I decided to make another one. Seen here.

Similar yet slightly different.

 My friend who purchased the set had it on last Sunday.

She had on the silk blue dress suit 

that she had told me about 

when she bought the necklace set..

I could now see what she had in her minds eye. 

Both the suit and the jewelry pieces 

complemented each other perfectly.

She looked simply lovely.

One Fun Bead Store!

This place is too much fun. Fresh and clean  feel and so well organized.

Aren't those bead tables amazing!

 It's called Bead Haven.

If you happen to be in the Frankenmuth, MI 

and you like bead shopping. I think you'll enjoy this place.

Pictures are from their website

It all Started with a Bead...

This Bead in fact

Amber with greenish yellow, black and white dots.

This is not a pretty bead in my opinion. 

So I bought more not so pretty beads

to see if they would go with it.

Amber with grey bumpy dots. 

Another serious case of "What were you Thinkin'!"

I went to a "new to me".. bead store this Saturday.

Spent hours getting lost in all the variety of beads.

Places like that make my head swirl with ideas.

 I found these golden yellow wide leaves

I also picked up these two styles of black lampwork beads. 

One with flowers and one with circles and dots.

Using these with what I had in my stash. I made this toggle bracelet.

 After I was done I said to myself this reminds me of a Bumble bee.

I'll make another using these colors.

So with some of the left over lampwork beads, my bead stash

and bee charms I have.

I made this bracelet.

 The round pewter beads reminded me of a round beehive.

So I just had to use those.
And now I have a this Honey Bee bracelet.

I might have never worked with this color combination,

if it hadn't been for that one bead.

Honey Bee bracelet is now for sale in my blog shop.