YEAH - I fueled up - no more E

Finally, this weekend, spring decided to show up... Mother Nature has been traveling blindfolded and backwards since the "official" start of spring back in MARCH... Yes, it's remained cold, we've gotten snow and my tulips and daffodils have been crying - until this past Friday.

Friday brought glorious skies, warm sunshine and lobster red forearms from sitting out on the patio of a local coffee shop catching up with a dear friend for a few hours.  Seriously 2 hours turned my very pale, freckled Irish arms to the likes of Sebastion on My Little Mermaid. :)

I was able to hand deliver the chocolate swirls necklace and earrings this weekend.  I have to share, seeing the reaction on Jenna's face when she actually saw the jewelry in person for the first time was priceless.  If gas wasn't EightyBazillionJillion dollars per gallon, I'd hand deliver all my orders... everywhere.  But it is, so I won't be doing that anytime soon.

The sun also completely refilled my creativity tank.  When I have too many days in a row of no sunshine, the fuel meter on my creativity tank dips lower and lower and l-o-w-e-r... get the drift.  So after more than a week... I was running on E.  These last 72 hours of sunshine have be so very welcome.

I have designed a special piece for the Mother's Day Challenge at Artbeads.  No pictures yet.... I'll keep you waiting with baited breath! :)  I also designed a beautiful Ivory pearl necklace with special hand beaded focal beads.  Looking forward to sharing that with you as well!

For now... I'll share with you a photo of a new pair of earrings I created with some beautiful lampwork beads by JulsBeads!  These will be available in my Artfire Store shortly!

Hope your week is filled with creativity!
{Hugs!}
~Dawn

Fairies are Dancing on my Keyboard...

Because they all should be wearing these earrings!  The pink & purple just sing of girly glam and fairy dust!  Doncha think? 

I listed these lampwork glass earrings in my Artfire store over the weekend.  People are loving earrings, such a simple way to dress up an outfit, add a pop of color, or showcase some amazing beads!

Yup, these do all of the above!  Plus these have the coolest Tanzanite Crystals on them... they are a twisted cube sort.of.kind.of.  I had purchased a few of them at my local bead store last summer because they were soooo sparkley and pretty.  But every time I was going to use them, the bead devil on my left shoulder jumped right off my shoulder and put them back in their place in my bead organizer.  So I moved on, coveting all the Tanzanite crystals. 

But now, these beautiful JulsBeads were crying out for friends.  They really, really wanted to party like rockstars with the coveted crystals.  How could I not oblige them?  I mean seriously, don't they make the perfect couple? 

Hugs!

Help I'm Having Too Much FUN!

Available in My Artfire Store

Seriously, I am having too darn much fun!  I've been photographing new jewelry (because the sun has been AWESOME) and finishing some incredible bead embroidery pieces that will be on display first at my Beaded Dreams Debut on April 28th! 

If you read this post you'll know how much fun I've been having making earrings in between squinting over all the seed beads.  Mixing Lampwork with Crystals and pearls makes such a yummy ear candy!  What also makes it so much fun is letting the colors I'm working with take me away (in my own mind) anytime I need to "travel!" 

This pair of earrings makes me feel like I'm on a tropical paradise.  I can feel the sun warming my face, hear the waves lapping at the beach and I can almost taste the margarita... almost.  The beads were again from my stash of Julsbeads and I love the swirl of the orange and turquoise shades together.  They were the perfect combination of two of this years "IT" Pantone 2011 colors!

The orange shades reflect the coral rose (which looks more orangy to me).  The turquoise is similar to the shade Regatta.  But more than that, the whole look makes me smile... both colors exemplify happiness, and that's how I feel just seeing these earrings!

I've just listed them in my Artfire Store for sale!  Stay tuned as I add more!  But in the mean time, I can't wait to share my latest bead embroidered piece.  I'm still drooling...

Have a wonderful afternoon! 
{Hugs!}

Earring Extravagaanza!

Available in my Artfire Store

I'm on a roll... and when I'm rollin' ain't nothing gonna stop me!  Seriously, the coffee is dy-na-MITE this morning!  It's kicking my headache right out the door sayin' see ya, don't have time to be ya!

I wanted to share a little project I finished.  My dear friend Stacy (who just posted an awesome blog post about marketing your handcrafted business) had contacted me a little bit ago about making a few pairs of earrings for her.  I absolutely love doing custom orders because the design is a reflection of the personality of the person that will be wearing the piece.  So Stacy had fallen in love with a few sets of lampwork glass beads from Julsbeads etsy store.  If you've been following my blog, you'll know how much I ♥ Julsbeads... like seriously, bucket list = lottery + move her to my house to design just for me.  Ahhh.... back to reality.

So Stacy purchased from Juls and had her ship the bead sets directly to me.  Because Juls Beads just speak to me so much, I received the package in the mail on Friday and they immediately spoke to me.  Both sets!  I know, crazy when inspiration hits that fast... but it happens.

I sat down at my work table, played with some complimentary stones and wire and as my sweetie was walking in from work I had created two masterpiece pairs of glass earrings that I know Stacy will love!

This isn't the first time Stacy and I have done this.  She'll find beads or pendants that just speak to her, but she doesn't make jewelry.  We work great together as she tells me what she would like made, and I design a completely unique piece of jewelry for her to be proud of.

If you're in the same boat as Stacy, and just ooohhh and ahhhhh over a set of beads or a pendant, and would like something special made, you're welcome to contact me.  We can discuss the options available and what you are looking for and I'll created a unique piece of handmade beaded jewelry you will love!

Silver Leverback Earrings with Chocolate Accents