Bead Table Wednesday - BTW

This is 2 weeks of BTW in a row.  Why?  Because I took pics and forgot to post last week AND because I have a puppy that has really limited my beading time.  SOoooo while my beading table is full of "projects" including a wire crochet project with Softflex craft wire and a custom design that will be exclusively available through Suzy Manning's Sizzzl website. (which you should really check out of you want to meet an EXTRAORDINARY woman!)

So this week (and last) I've been working on a project for me.  I bought a summery sundress that is a purple paisly pattern with green, black and cream tossed into to create the pattern.  I've been working on a necklace that would go with the dress perfectly.  Not sure where it will end up because as you can see from the two photos, it's starts as one thing then evolves and changes with each bead I add!

What's on your bead table today?
{Hugs!}
Dawn

I Heart Macro!

I saw a post on Facebook over the weekend from a fellow Wisconsinite Beader - Tracey Nanstad (A Beadiful Mess) with a great macro photo of a bubble on a bubble wand.  Now we see kids blowing bubbles and love how they float, then pop, but have you ever captured one on photo?  Thanks Tracey for posting your link on Facebook while I happened to be online!  It caught my eye and introduced me to several new bloggers!  ♥

The post is part of a blog hop called "I Heart Macro" and it led me to flip through several blogs that I hadn't seen before!  I love how being summer, we're capturing so many beautiful flowers with our macro photos.  I also love the tenderness of animals in the macro photos!

So for my entry into the I Heart Macro blog hop, is a photo I took at our 4th of July party with Chris' family.  This is a tri-colored zinnia that starts out as a fuschia  in the middle and blends to a red-orange and finally yellow.  Don't you just love the little clusters of stars around the center of the flower?  And do you see the bug at the very tip of the petal on the upper right (you'll want to click the photo to enlarge.)

When I took the photo, immediately I was seeing a bead embroidered piece of art, and I still do.  But in the meantime, while it simmers in my creative brain, I had to share with you so you could enjoy the simple beautiful Mother Nature gives us each and every day.

Like it?  Wanna Play?  Click the I Heart Macro button and you'll be taken to Waterstone Jewelry's blog!  Surf through the current entries for I Heart Macro and then share an entry of your own!  Can't wait to see what you capture!

Have a terrific week! {Hugs!}

~Dawn

Facebook Friday - Connecting your Personal Profile to your Business Profile

Welcome to Facebook Friday!  First let me ask... if you have an online business, do you have a Facebook business page or are you just using your personal profile?

If you don't have a business page, you really should.  For a number of reasons, there are many more applications that work with business pages that just aren't available to personal profiles.  (i.e. Etsy app and the Artfire Kiosk to name a few.)

So if you don't yet have a business page, set one up.... I'll wait, so hurry back. :o) Trust me, people are much more likely to follow what's going on with your business if they just have to click "Like," rather than sending you a friend request and waiting for you to accept.

Once you've gotten your business page set up, you'll want to link your personal page to your business.  Otherwise, how will people know where to find your business page (or that you even have one.)  One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is when they list their employment on their personal page, they'll write XYZ company or self employed, etc.  BUT by doing that, nobody knows you have a business you run.  They have no way of seeing that information.  This really came into play when Facebook made their major changes back in May for both the personal and business pages.

How can we fix this?

Regardless of your day job, or full-time employment, the reality is you still work for yourself and need to promote YOUR business with passion in order for it to grow.  Simple solution to get you started.  In the Employment Section of your personal profile, set the employer as your facebook fan page!  Here's how:

1. Click Edit Profile > then go to the Education and Work section.
2. Begin typing the name of your fan page in the Employer field.
3. If you see your fan page in the dropdown menu, select it.
4. Then fill out the remaining fields (Position, City/Town, Description and Time Period). If you also add in any business partners/colleagues, this will show on their profile too under the Employer section.
5. Click Add Job.

Ta Daaaaa!  It's that simple!  Now when people are your friends on your personal profile, they can click the link at the top of your profile to go directly to your business page!

Want more great Facebook and Social Media Marketing tips?  "Like" my FB Page and I'll be sharing more secrets and tips frequently in the weeks to come!  Hope you have a FANTASTIC Facebook Friday!
{Hugs!}

Cinderella Made it Home from the Ball

We survived the 4th of July weekend.  No windows were blown out because of the neighbors fireworks.  All 3 of my dogs still have their bark (although our big guy is still working his way back to normal.)  And we enjoyed all of our family gatherings.  Here's a few pics to share from our fabulous weekend! 

When you wear the funky glasses, these bubbles appear to have lightening bolts in them.

These Fabulous Glasses are 3-D for the Bubbles!

I am in the process of doing a review for SoftFlex Craft Wire using it in a wire crochet cuff.  Can't wait to share with you. (secret: there might even be a tutorial involved.. shhhhh)

Hope you have a wonderful week!  Hard to believe it's half over already!
{Hugs!}
~Dawn

My Sweetie and My Baby Bella

Long Weekend - Break out the Margaritas!

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends!  Hope you are enjoying the holiday and spending time with your dear families.  For those in the states, the 4th of July is on Monday, so I say... what the heck, let's break out the margarita maker right.this.very.minute!

Since WI is so close to Canada... I mean heck, we're only an international border away... I'm officially celebrating BOTH holidays!  Yes, I'm barefoot, casual and I've started my weekend early!  I have 3 dogs all napping peacefully (gasp, that NEVER happens) and mama's gonna go play in some beadzzzzzz!  WOO HOO!

This weekend is always a lot of fun!  Celebrating my niece Ashlynn's 3rd birthday (actual birthday is today, party is tomorrow) then having a BBQ with Chris' family on Sunday... and on Monday, we all rest!

What's your plans for Canada Day or the 4th of July?  Are there fireworks on your agenda?  (That F-word... yes, fireworks) is sooooo not welcome in our home.  Cody is TERRIFIED of anything that goes boom... which is precisely why he's a handsome house dog and not a hunting dog.  LOL  So we play REALLY loud music to drown out the crazy neighbors that aim their bottle rockets at our house.  And yes, you read that correctly, they actually point the tube that they shoot the ILLEGAL bottle rockets out of at our house... and yes, we have talked nicely to them and asked them to please not aim their flaming explosives at our home... but apparently they have short term memory issues.  So this year, they get a visit from the uniforms until they can refresh that aging memory.  (Sidenote: they already started last weekend and we had 4 bottle rockets in our front yard... just feet from our screen porch.)

In my next life, I'll live in the middle of the woods with no neighbors for 5 miles each direction!

Hope your weekend is fun, safe and full of great memories... or really funny stories you can share on your blog! :o)

{Hugs!}

Tis not Sesame Street - But Today is all about G

I could say the G is for Greg, my little brother who is GREAT... but that's not the entire reason for this post.

It was a very busy weekend and finally the weather here in WI was perfect on a weekend.  We were able to clean out the screen porch for the season... I know it's July next weekend, but prior to this the weather has never cooperated when Chris and I were both available. 

So clean, clean, clean... then GRILL!  Yes, G is the letter of the day!

We had one of our dear friends over and I made an incredible - healthy - dinner yesterday.  I tried all new ideas for dinner including a Greek cucumber dip (for toasted pita chips) and a beautiful GREEN cilantro pesto made with fresh herbs from our garden.  The Cilantro pesto topped chicken that had a light lemon pepper and olive oil for seasoning. 

Both turned out so well, and were healthy I just had to share - see facebook note for cilantro pesto recipe. 

Greek Cucumber Dip
1 c. organic plain yogurt
1 c. organic sour cream
1 Tbsp Greek Seasoning
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper
1 Medium cucumber

De-seed and shred cucumber.  Mix in yogurt, sour cream, greek seasoning and lemon juice.  Refrigerate 2 hours prior to serving.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with baked pita chips.

Glass... yes a very favorite piece of eyecandy for me.  Especially lampwork glass from a wonderful artisan.  I've organized and been working with much of my stash lately and will be adding several new pieces to my Artfire Store.  Pieces include a fuschia set (earrings & necklace), patriotic earrings and a stunning pearl & lampwork bridal set!  Oh yeah... I'm still drooling... So that's on my To DO list today, what's on yours?

G is also for Gallbladder which at this moment Chris' mom is having removed.  What started as a stomach pain ended her in the ER overnight and surgery this morning.  So positive thoughts and healing energies for her today would be most appreciated. 

Good Gravy, can you believe this is the last week in June?  Honestly, I've been working so diligently on puppy training so I have a Good Gurrrrllll... it seems June just slipped out the back door!  So while I'm embracing puppy training because I recognize a good dog is a happy dog, and this little cutie patootie is one smart whipper snapper, I need to work with her while she's absorbing it like a sponge!

Thanks for joining me on G day!  In the words of Tony the Tiger, I hope your day is Grrrrrrr-eat!

{Hugs!}

Brought to you by the letter J

Dragonfly by Jayla Rediger - 11 yr old

J for Jelly Beans, J for jumping, J for JAYLA!

I am so excited to share this piece with you.  I have a little story to share, so if you'll grab a cup of coffee first, I know you'll be so glad you walked on this little journey for me.

"Why Jayla" you ask?

Because Jayla is a beautiful 11 year old aspiring artist that made the dragonfly pendant I've used in this necklace.  Yes, just 11 YEARS OLD!!!!  I first heard about Jayla's talents when I was reading her mom Melissa's blog.  Melissa operates Sea of Glass, a lampwork artist out of Iowa.  When her daughter wanted to take a class with her at their local bead store, Melissa embraced some special mother daughter time and signed them up for a polymer clay class.

Jayla was instantly in love with making the pendants.  From the colors and finishes to all the little add ons that make each pendant one of a kind, she was inspired.  After the class Jayla wasn't about to give up designing.  No, rather she wanted to turn her creative inspirations into a business.  Jayla continue to make her special pendants and Melissa created a section on her website called Jayla's Corner just for her to market her pendants.

When I heard Melissa was going to be selling at Bead and Button and Jayla's dad had created a special display to sell her pendants, I knew I had to get one (and meet Melissa too!)  I had my dear sweet fiance Chris with me (he was SUCH a trooper going to B&B and I'll tell you, he was amazed at the various artisans we met.  He had no idea just how many talented artisans are in this genre.  He's also still waiting for his T-shirt that said "I attended Bead & Button 2011"~ goofball.)

The second I saw this dragonfly pendant, it was mine... as in GIMME-RIGHT-NOW!!!  Her artistry in this pendant is stunning.  She even used a toothpick to paint the body of the dragonfly because it's a tiny area.  As an added touch, she created a flower with a bead cap and sparkly swarovski crystal center for that perfect finishing touch.

I love supporting today's youth because I feel like they are facing challenges much more difficult than I faced growing up.  But I also LOVE when I see parents taking such an interactive role in supporting their kids and fostering their creative spirits.  Jayla's Corner is available on Melissa's website, Sea of Glass and if you want to see Jayla's latest pendants as she creates them, I urge you to follow Melissa's blog too!

This is just the first piece I'll make with one of Jayla's pendants.  It was a pleasure pulling the colors out of the design and adding some additional sparkle with Swarovski crystals in the beaded necklace.  The necklace is currently available in my Artfire Store.  

I hope you enjoy the simple beauty and you find creative inspiration from the story of this very talented 11 year old girl.  She's got a great start to a very bright future!

{Hugs!}

Available in my Artfire Store