Beads for Fun!!!

I am no Susan Kennedy, or Laurie Green Whitney. I am no Lisa Anderson or Amanda Austin! I am just me, and I am teaching myself to make beads! I started about a year and a half ago and I LOVE it! It is challenging and fun! I am looking forward to being good enough to have beads that all turn out the same size! I have no idea how to make them that consistent so my beads are "for Fun!" My Jewelry designs are more organic and earthy anyways, so if I really need beads that are the same size, I will go to one of my beady friends and get them there!! I do like them to be the same for earrings ;)

 I finally bought Raku Frit! I love it! I love the colours and the way it varies depending on where in the flame you melt it! {Thanks Susan for the tips!!} I had fun trying new things last week and I get to do it again tomorrow!

I even made some fun hearts! I know a couple of them are a little buggered up, but I am sure that my budding Jewelry Designer daughter will LOVE to play with those! She is only 10, seems like a good place to send them! lol

I like to call them twisted hearts! lol It is fun to watch the colours swirl into each other when you twist them a little! I have a few people who actually really loved this one! Yay!!

This one I made with my own Silvered Ivory Stringers!! I was lucky enough to come across some tutorials for Radiant Mind on Etsy, and they are amazing!! They have helped me so much! That is where I learned the Silvered Ivory technique and also how to make better swirled beads and better encasing too!

I of course have to do Something with these beads!! So for some nice simple designs I thought why not string a few of the larger beads right onto the chain!
I like the way they turned out! I think it is a great necklace for someone who does not really go for the large bulky pieces I love to make!

I even made that Frit mix myself! One of the better ones I have made! Not everything turns out as well as you would like when you are learning on your own! lol

Love trying new things! I can't wait for the day that I can have my own set up at home! Only time will tell since I have to find a way to work with my insurance company and I need to save up enough money for all the equipment!! lol

Thanks for visiting!

Marie

Pretty Things Giveaway!!

Lori Anderson from Pretty things is having an amazing giveaway!! I don't normally post giveaways on my blog, but I really want these so I just had to post this one! :)

I have been wanting alphabet stamps for awhile, but with everything else I want to buy, it's hard to convince myself to spend the money for a GOOD quality set like this one!
So here is your chance to win...

To enter: {YOU NEED TO DO THIS ON LORI'S BLOG}

1.  Post about this giveaway on your blog (don't forget to link!)

2. Extra points -- one for Twitter, one for Facebook.

3. Comment that you did these things, and the links to them.

I know, hoops to jump, but guys -- these stamps are WORTH IT!

$70 of fun for FREE!

Winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 25th, 

sometime after 12:00 noon EST

GOOD LUCK!

 

Don't miss your chance to win this!

Marie

Join BTW and Humblebeads!!

So I thought I would try joining the fun for once, I just hope I can keep up with it!! lol 

 So here is my messy bead table. I have a ton of stuff to put away and sort, I also need to clean the floor, since that is where I have been working!! lol I would love to edit the photos the way Heather did, but I have no iPod and no software for it. So what you see is what you get! You may recognize a couple of things on my table, I would love to hear back in the comments section and see what you do recognize!!


Thanks for watching!!
Marie

Happy New Year!!

Sorry I have not posted in so long, sometimes life gets in the way! I am hoping to be able to do it more now with the New Year! So first off, new pieces!!

A new Skye Jewels piece with a pretty Fleur De Lis!!

 A new Menagerie piece with a so sweet little butterfly!

And another Menagerie piece with a sweet little heart and a Vintaj dangle, one of the pieces from my latest order!!

 This fun necklace has a little of everything, but my sea/beach inspired pieces are doing so well I will be making them regularly!!

Like this fun Turtle necklace! I normally try to stay away from Micheals but I was given a GC for Christmas so why not!! Fell in love with this beauty!!

So, short and sweet today! Wishing you a happy and prosperous NEW YEAR!!

Marie

SKYE JEWELS OPEN HOUSE

 So my Christmas Open House is on this Saturday! So I am letting everyone know hoping to have a few more people turn up! I know that most of you who read this blog are far away, and that's OK, but I do know there are a few local fans that must look at it on occasion, so this is for you, the local fan!

 I have been hard at work trying to somewhat control and tone down the destruction that my children cause on a daily basis, I have been perking things up and I have certainly been on a cleaning frenzy!

 I can't seem to catch up EVER! but at least I am trying to get it to look decent! I am hoping that things will be clean enough for the Christmas decorations to go up tonight of tomorrow, and I keep asking the kids to help out so we can decorate, but no one seems to get the picture!! I guess if you want things done right you have to do them yourself!

 All the items pictured here are available! I have over 500 pieces to choose from! I have almost 100 bookmarks, over 200 pairs of earrings, necklaces galore and bracelets to make you swoon! {sorry, that just sounded good, lol} I am making more bracelets, bookmarks and purse charms etc... to give you a good selection. I am even going to do a little baking to tempt your taste buds!! {My gingerbread is to die for!!}

 I am going to have a draw, not sure of the prize yet. I am going to have sale prices to fit your budget! I have surprise specials going on all day! You will not be disappointed!!

Most pieces of jewelry have Art Beads included in the designs as well as semi-precious stones, genuine Swarovski Crystals, Vintaj Natural Brass, Sterling Silver and so much more! You do NOT want to miss this show!!

I still have a few little pieces that are in my Vintage Romance collection. I hope to find a little extra time to make the pieces in my head before the show, but we will have to see! I am planning on separating all the collections or styles into their own displays, but time is a serious problem, so I will simply try to accomplish as much as I can!

I have a few "Not Granny's Pearls" pieces left, no time to make more, but next week I do have time for special requests! I might make a couple pairs of earrings, who knows! There are only 24 hours in a day and I do need to sleep! lol

This should be the best OPEN HOUSE I have ever had! I have invited a lot of people, put up signs for people to see, advertised on the internet and I hope to do a little more! I will not post my Home address on the computer, but if you want to come, e-mail me at skyejewels@live.com and I will give you the address!


Don't forget to bring Friends!!
See you on Saturday from 12-4pm!!


Marie

Christmas Shows!!

Can I say first how much I dislike Florescent Lighting?? It gives off the worst glow on everything!

This was the "Tiffany Glass House" semi annual Art Show. So unlike a lot of the shows around you won't find anything that is not handmade! You can not participate in this Art show, unless you are a member of the Glass House. Needless to say there was a lot of Jewelry there! I am so glad that all our styles are very different. I did really well! The economy is terrible and so it was not overly crowded, but I was completely satisfied with the results!

I am running out of published pieces to display! I have sold almost all of them and now there are a couple I simply refuse to sell, so that I have something to show for all my hard work! People just love looking through the magazines, a lot of them think these are my catalogs and that they can order from them, I guess all the "catalog" jewelry companies out there really have taken over!! I do a lot of explaining! At least it strikes up conversations!

My displays look better in person, there is too much distraction in the background, the lighting is the worst but at least you get the idea! I am starting to have some really great stands and props, I just need to refine the way I load them up!! lol

This is one of the parts of my displays that I actually really like! Having the Picasso Jasper on the White Busts really brings out the colours! I think two of them are sold?!? I need to check. For sure the one with the round pendant sold. Sold some Mookaite too, need to add some of that to my Necklace collection! I have a couple I can make. Just need about 12 more hours in a day to do everything I want to do!!

I sold quite a few of the bracelets on the right side of the pic, and the red clay necklace in the plate. My earring trays are starting to look like I can finally combine a few, but I most likely will just fill them up again this week for my Open House on Saturday! I have soooo much to do!! Anyone want to come over and help clean up? I pay in jewelry!! lol

Now can you imagine me trying to fit all this one one table?? Yikes!! It does not work!! lol Trust me I have tried!! I am trying to keep a bit of a French theme going in this small section. I have my small Carte Postale Body Form, love that! I also have a mix of Parisienne French and Creole French. I fell in love with this Mask! I can just picture this on someone in the Phantom of the Opera!! lol I have a mix of Fleurs de Lis which are almost sold out, shabby chic pieces and french Ephemera here. Most of my decor and stands have kind of a bird theme going and you can see that in the tray that my pieces rest on. They are not as invisible as in the picture, like I mentioned, the lighting is awful!! the tags are handmade and giving Credit where credit is due, the idea came from the tags Shannon Levart's mother made for her. I only glimpsed them once but I remember the effect they had on me. These are just the first batch, I am going to make a new batch for Spring.  I can't wait to see how they turn out! I also have a couple more things in the works for next year's shows, something I will not sell online, but just as an "extra" at the actual shows.

Keep Coming back for more!!

Marie

AND THE WINNER IS!!!

So it took me awhile to get it all together and check to make sure everyone was on my list, I then added numbers to each name on the List. 

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

40

Timestamp: 2010-12-01 15:57:55 UTC


SO #40 was assigned to Gerry!! Gerry Please send me your snail mail and I will get that necklace out to you this week!!
Congratulations!!


My public email is on the side bar...


Have a fantastic Day!!
Marie

Last Chance!!

The time has almost come to do the draw for the wonderful necklace you have all been hoping would be yours. There are three days left before I do the Draw. I am hoping that a few more of you will take the time to enter as well as become followers on Martha's blog! I want to thank all of you who took the time to purchase a little something, it means a lot to me that you love her pieces as much as I do. So come again soon to see who wins!! 

Marie