black cats for Halloween

I am not a huge fan of Halloween.  (I don't have anything against it.  It just isn't my favorite holiday.)  But I love black cats.  So I put together a mini black cats photo feature for today.  Enjoy!

Black Cat Pink Flower Photo Card by PlumLanePhotos

BLACK KITTEN MATTED 11X14 TITLED SIGNED AND TITLES SLRUSSELL by sandrarussell

Thomas shadow photo by horatio3333

Black Metallic Cat Green Eyes Shimmering by gothicrow

Chat Noir - golden feline eyes and black sleek fur - a halloween photograph - a fine art cat print (5x5) by Raceytay

free shipping, sneak peak

I'm offering free shipping in my Etsy shop through Sunday October 31 11:59PM EST.  All refunds will be issued through PayPal.  It does include custom orders.  You have one more day to enter my blog giveaway, too.

I finished my newest Natural Sparkle piece today (as well as a pair of earrings) so I cleared out my box and started laying out on my newest winter leafy pieces.

I know that some of those leaves look green or purple, but they're really blue or clear in better lighting.  I'm excited about all of the gray and silver leaves that I'll have in the mix this time.  It should add a really nice dimension to the final look.

leafy feature number 18

Happy Friday!  I have A LOT of leaf items saved up in my favorites so I'm continuing this feature every Friday now through at least the end of the fall.  Also, don't forget to enter my blog giveaway if you haven't already and stay tuned tomorrow for info about FREE SHIPPING in my shop.

Handmade Sterling silver Marquis Hoop with whimsical leaf charms by lindatrentjewelry

Autumn Leaves Printable Digital Collage Sheet Gift Tags. Earth Tone. 2x2 Round Tags. Fall Colors. by DigitalCS

Oak Leaf - Domino Magnet by PipingHotPapers

Handmade Ceramic Cabochon - leaves by LisaPetersArt

Falling Leaves Necklace by FrostedTreats

The Almond tree leaf earrings by rafya

Gold Leaf Necklace w Faceted Labradorite - Forest Nocturne by mysticwynd

treasury feature

After a pretty crazy day, I'm checking in quickly with a quick treasury feature.  Yael (TheJoyofColor) included my Beadwoven Beads - Set of Two - Sparkling Green in her Smile He Is Coming treasury.

If you haven't already, please enter my blog giveaway!

BLOG GIVEAWAY and FREE SHIPPING for my 2nd Etsy anniversary

My second Etsy anniversary is coming up on Halloween.  In honor of it, I am hosting my first blog giveaway!  I'll also be offering free shipping on everything in my Etsy shop all day on October 30th and October 31st.

The giveaway is for one pair of peyote triangle earrings ($13-$15 range) or one peyote triangle pendant ($15).  You get to pick the colors.  Here are just a few of my existing designs.  (Click on the pictures to go to the Etsy listings.)

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is a leave a comment on this entry.  You don't have to comment about anything specific.  You are welcome to promote the giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc., but there are no multiple entries for promo.  I like to keep it simple. :)

You have until 11:59PM EST Sunday October 31st to get your entry in here.  I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner sometime on Monday.  Please leave your e-mail address, blog link, and/or Etsy shop address so that I have a way to contact you.

Free shipping will start at 12AM EST on Saturday, October 30 and end at 11:59PM EST on Sunday, October 31.  All refunds will be issued through PayPal.

crazy weather, new buttons

As I'm sure some of you know, the midwest has been hit with a lot of storms this past week.  It rained off and on all night and was still stormy this morning.

As promised here are some pictures of the new buttons that I got from my mom over the weekend.  She hit the vintage button bin at Vogue again and gave me most of the stash.

I keep meaning to make some more turquoise and red pieces.  I think that I have to now, right?

I also played around with some possibilities for new button magnets.  Most of my inventory is in great shape, but I really need to make some more button magnets before my next show in a few weeks.

Normally I design individual magnets.  I have only made a couple sets so far, but people have consistently asked for more.  I'm going to made a handful of the green, red, and marbled blue set (I have enough to do 3-4 more than what's pictured there).  While I'm working with all of the turquoise and red, I'm going to make half a dozen or so of those as well.  I have some pink/mauve/cream from my existing button collection picked out for a set, too.

still in the wrong season

I never seem to list things in the appropriate season.  I just listed my spring piece last week, and now I'm listing a summer piece.  I don't think that these colors necessarily have to be limited to summer, though.  This is also another random links piece.  Since I won't have another ocean one up as soon as I thought (not an in stock one anyway), I thought I should list the other newest version that is available.  Here's my Beaded Bracelet - Silver Links - Summer.

I made this piece with my seed bead mix from my Square Stitch Cuff Bracelet - Embellished - Summer piece.  This is not a color combination that I wear a lot, but I have fun working with it and hope that others will find it an appealing edition to their accessory collection.

One of these afternoons that I'm home and make time for pictures before it gets dark, I'm going to take pictures of the newest stash of buttons that I got from my mom over the weekend.

wedding, repeat customer

Jake and I took a short road trip this weekend for one of my good college friend's wedding.  We drove 13 hours (not counting the in town traveling) in 3 days, but it was worth it.  In addition to the wedding, we got to visit with other friends and family along the way, most of whom we don't see very often.

During the trip, I sold half a dozen bracelets to a friend who did a large portion of her Christmas shopping with me last year, too.  Four of the bracelets are pieces that I've made in the last few months, including my newest silver links ocean piece that I hadn't listed on Etsy yet.  I actually hadn't even edited the pictures of it!  Here's a newly edited picture for you.

 

This is the third version of this design that I've sold so I will be making more of these in the future.  I have a few ideas for link bracelets in other color combinations, too.  As always, I'm open to your suggestions, too.

I hope that this week gets off to a good start for everyone!

leafy feature number 17

Silver Modern Leaf Stud Earrings by ANORIGINALJEWELRY

Vintage Silver Oak Leaf Necklace by susietastic

Fall Autumn Leaves Sparkly Leaf Holiday Gold Orange Green Buttons by WhysperFairy

Eternal Forest Giclee Print A3 open edition art reproduction by inaluxe

Indian Summer Original Watercolor Painting of Autumn Leaves painted in warm shades of brown rust green and lime by TheJoyofColor

It's a Jungle Out There Necklace by blockpartypress

Golden leaf haircomb by Noaki

final garden for the season

This is another piece that I made and photographed this summer, then photographed again in the light box before I listed it.  Here is my Beadwoven Bracelet - Petite Garden.

I made this piece with the seed bead mix that I had left over after I made my spring Art Beads piece, which I sold at the Iowa Arts Festival before I could ever list it here.  This was my original leafy color combination, and it may still be my favorite although that's a tough call to make.

I've finished two more bracelets this week.  My "beads that are out for current/future projects" tray has gotten kind of out of control (that's an understatement).  The more smaller projects that I can finish, the faster that I can get everything organized again.  Which will mean more room for even more projects.  The cycle never ends, but I am trying to get things somewhat under control.  I've been pretty good about photographing new items recently so I'll have more new listings soon.

new listing

I was going to get this up last night, but our Internet was down for almost 12 hours.  So I'm posting it tonight.  I listed a new pair of earrings tonight: Button Dangle Earrings - Orange/Brown.  I can't believe that I'm still listing pieces that I made this summer.  It's amazing how much you can get done when you're not working haha.  I've sold a couple pairs in this style with red/blue buttons.  Hopefully these will do well, too.

I have a bunch of button ideas that I need to start working up, especially before the fall/winter shows, as the button items tend to do especially well in person.  I have plans for pretty much every aspect of my button work: stud earrings, dangle earrings, magnets, button charm bracelets, and button embellished bracelets.

I also feel like I'm finally getting the hang of photographing earrings in my light box.  My first attempts were pretty bad, but I'm pretty pleased with my shots for this pair of earrings.  Let me know what you think.

I'm going to list more earrings in the next couple weeks, including a purple striped beadwoven pair and as promised, dangle radish Luna Lovegood inspired earrings.  Stay tuned.

treasury feature

Happy Friday everyone!  Tarapparel included my Beadwoven Dangle Earrings - Pink Leaves in her EtsyBloggers Team - Think Pink treasury.

I've been working on a few pairs of earrings the last couple days.  That's about the only thing that's been happening in the crafty end of my world lately. :) Have a great weekend!

daydreaming about daggers

Even though I haven't been doing a lot of bead work the last week, that doesn't mean that I'm not still thinking about beads!  I've been searching for good Czech glass dagger bead deals on Etsy this week.  Here are a few that I may need to purchase in the future.

CZECH GLASS DAGGER BEADS PINK SATIN 16 X 5MM from Beads4sale

10x3 Dagger Opaque TURQUOISE Czech Glass Beads 50 from simplypie

16mm Dagger SATIN LAVENDER Czech Glass Beads 25x from simplypie

50 - Pink Czech Pressed Glass 10x3mm Dagger Beads from BeadYourHeartOut

5X16MM DAGGER 50 PC from reba31969

Czech Glass 3 x 10mm Dagger Spear Siam Red (50) - BCP-0875 from Beadaholique

And of course Shannon has some amazing dagger beads.
16x5mm Multicolored Rainforest Mix Picasso Czech Glass Dagger Beads from beadsandbabble

new listing, Entrecard feature

I listed a new piece last night: Beadwoven Bracelet - Simple Birthday Cake.

I created this piece after I created my Birthday Cake peyote cuff.  (Yep, I'm still listing a few pieces that I made back in the summer.)  Yellow is not a color that I work with frequently, but it can be fun sometimes.  I haven't sold a ton of these simple right angle weave designs.  It's one of my favorite bracelet designs to wear, though.  It's very light weight and versatile.

Sharla was one of my Top Droppers on Entrecard last month.  I'm finally featuring one of her Etsy items here as promised.  I picked her Fall Sunset - Lampwork Glass and Swarovski Crystal Antiqued Brass Earrings.  Of course I can't resist lampwork, and this is the perfect time of year to wear these earrings.