Christmas Countdown!

There are 8 days left till Christmas! If you are shopping locally you have 7 days left to shop, if you are cyber shopping you have 5 days if you include today! I still have lots of great inventory in my Etsy shop to choose from.

 If you are concerned about getting things on time, I ship everything USPS Priority mail and have all my packages out the door usually in less than 24 hours. If you order by Monday, December 21st. BEFORE the post office closes here in central time, which I believe is 5pm, I will personally make sure you package gets to the post office that day! Please keep in mind that if you place an order at 4:45pm on the 21st, that doesn't leave me much time to package things up and drive to the post office before it closes. Any orders that come in late on the 21st will be taken to the post office first thing in the morning on the 22nd.

Not always being as organized as I would like to be,(good intentions only get you so far), I have been the girl standing in line at the post office hoping and praying that my packages would get to there destinations on time. Most of the time, I must say they have, despite my lack of planning! Now, I of course can make no guarantees that a package shipped on the 22nd will arrive on time, since once I drop it off, It is out of my control!

For anyone prone to being a super last minute shopper, I would be happy to give you a quote for express mail. No, it's not cheap, but you did wait until the last minutes to shop and the stores really don't have anything left, so you might have to make some concessions! I tend to be home and on-line most days, so if you have questions about any of the items in my shop just send me a covo or e-mail. I can make adjustments to most pieces in my shop, so if something isn't exactly to your liking, just ask.

I hope everyone is having a calm and enjoyable Holiday season! It is very easy to get all caught up and get stressed out about shopping and family and such. I will do my best here at Juniper Gems to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. If things get too bad, have an extra cookie, everyone needs a reason to make their New Years resolution's!

O Tannenbaum!!!!

Are you singing the song in your head right now? I am! That wasn't the goal of this post, but somehow music has a powerful way of getting into our heads. Like the annoying TV commercial jingle you can't stop replaying in your mind over and over again!


I will admit that I do find the holidays come just a bit too early in a retail sense anymore and every year they seem to come sooner. That being said, when one deals in a retail market you can only protest so much. Wait too long and you've missed the window of sales opportunity all together. This would be why you see holiday items posted here and listed in my Etsy shop.


You won't find me listing Christmas/ Holiday items in July, I just can't! But I have to come over to the dark side just a little and start selling holiday stuff before Thanksgiving, even if it does grind me just a bit that retail has to keep pushing the envelope on this one especially.


This is just a sampling of the selection of holiday earrings I will have to offer this year. I may have gone a bit overboard, but my husband doesn't call me "Little Miss Moderation" for nothing. I am more of a something for everyone type of a gal, rather than the one size fits all approach.


I have a limited supply of materials this year and won't be getting more, partially do to the fact that these parts become virtually impossible to get the closer you get to the holidays. You have to order in the summer if you want a good selection! Some versions I have several pairs of, some only one. I do have a few different size options as well.


Stop by my Etsy shop or my Artfire shop and see what I have listed. Each shop may have a different selection, especially where these earrings are concerned. I will also have some Snowmen earrings as well, just as soon as I get them photographed and listed. Feel free to contact me with any questions either here or through my shops.

A Firey Weekend!

I spent the entire weekend taking bead making classes at Wired Designs here in San Antonio, Texas. I originally signed up to take one class now and one in January, but they had so many open slots for the class on Sunday I decided to jump over to that class. It was an awesome experience and I learned a lot! There were quite a few areas I was struggling with and this really help fill in the blank and straighten me out on several issues. I am a very visual learner, so seeing it done, then having the opportunity to do it myself, plus get pointers and corrections along the way are immensely helpful. You can learn to do a lot of things on your own, but I figure this really cuts down on the learning curve, spares you a considerable amount of frustration, provides a lot of great tips that only years of practice can bring and saves you from wasting pounds of glass!

I will still need to spend hours and hours practicing, but I feel like I have a very good foundation in which to build upon now. Combining this with the classes I took back in the spring have really helped to make sense of a lot of core concepts. I am a firm believer that you must get the foundational stuff down first, then anything you do after that will just be adding on to that. If you don't have a good foundation, you will continually be frustrated. I have two more classes I am signed up to take in January and February. They will have more classes come this spring and summer that I am sure will entice me into another one or two!

They offer a really cool teen artist program, which I have Emily signed up to take glass fusing classes in. She'll be taking both the one and two class back to back. I think she's really going to enjoy this studio and working with kids her age. She already did some fusing in her art class last year in High School. This should just build upon that knowledge and give her more skills and confidence. If she really enjoys doing it, I told her she can sell her pieces in my shop where I will be selling my beads, once that is up and running. She rather liked the idea of making money. I'm not sure she fully grasps the concept of subtracting costs from the price before she gets paid, but we'll get there. She might still think that materials are free.

The instructor for our class was Nina "Sam" Hibbler, and she was an excellent teacher. I really enjoyed her focus on getting the basics right! She had a great, simple way of explaining things that made it easy to understand how to put it into practice, did excellent demos that were informative, but didn't take up the bulk of the class. She's a bit feisty which I love, and has a great passion for art in general. If you live in the San Antonio area and are looking for lampworking classes at any level I would highly recommend this studio!

I am going to put a good deal of effort into getting more things listed in my Etsy shop this week. Last week was plagued by headaches and a whole bunch of mishaps! I hope to be much more efficient this week! Stop by my Etsy shop as the week progresses and see what new listings are now available!

Conquering The Garage!

It is pretty much the last frontier left in the move. The Garage! I do still have an over flow of stuff in the spare bed room, kind of the "what in the heck am I going to do with this", pile which is just really waiting for there to be shelves in which to take up residence upon out in the garage.

I have made some good progress over the past few days, I can even see some floor now! I have built, with the help of Bob, a bunch of the racks and am now unpacking boxes. It is amazing what you find as you unpack them. Quite a number of things you wished you would have gotten rid of at the other end. Did we really need to move this? But one only has so much time and energy, I could only go to the Goodwill so many times and the garage sale I had was already a monumental undertaking! I just keep telling myself they have a Goodwill here, so I can take stuff to them!

Hopefully I will have my lampworking bench all set up by the end of the weekend! I am taking a class all day on Saturday, so I will be itching to get home and melt glass in my own space with my own torch after that! I will be very glad when all the boxes in the garage are unpacked and put away! It'll be nice to be able to find a muffin pan if I should need one, I know they are out there some where, and I did discover the waffle iron today, so we could be having waffles his weekend I am thinking!!

I have put a few more items in my Etsy shop over the past couple days, and will get more in there daily if possible. Somedays, I don't get to it, but I try not to go more than a day or two with out putting something in there!

New Listings and a Sneak Peek!

I have put a few new listings in my Etsy shop and will continue to put up a few everyday. I still need to take more photos, but as I sit here at the computer and look out the window behind the monitor, it is raining quite steadily. I won't be able to take any more pictures today, but it looks like the rest of the week promises to be sunny and in the 70's. I did get some photos taken a few days ago, but neglected to check the battery on my camera before I started and the darn thing died after a few pieces! At least I got enough good stuff to get me started this week, and give me time to work on some more pictures as the week progresses. I am going to get some new photo editing software as well, but for some reason the disc drive on my brand new computer isn't working! I need to have Bob call the tech service people and see if we can't get that bug worked out. Cant load a new program with out that!

I have two promos to offer as I re-open my Etsy shop. The first one is a progressive discount sale, basically the more you buy the more you save...For purchases of 2-3 items you will receive a 20% discount, 4 or more items and I will give you a 30% discount. The discount will come in the form of a refund to your PayPal account that I will send after the transaction is completed, usually within 24 hours.

The other promo I have to offer is if you sign up for my mailing list here on the right hand side of my blog AND make a purchase, I will include free first class shipping on your order! This is in addition to any sale discount. By signing up for my mailing list you will be sent a newsletter alerting you of any up coming sales in advance, as well as giving you access to private, mailing list only sales. I will not be sending out a newsletter weekly to clog up your mailbox, or give, sell or otherwise distribute your private information. Just put "Mailing List", in your notes to seller to take advantage of this offer.

Please note that my normal method of shipping is USPS Priority mail and this is the less expensive, slightly slower method. If you still desire Priority mail as your shipping method, I can refund you the difference between the two shipping methods, and still send your package via Priority mail. I will verify that you have signed up for the mailing list prior to giving the discount and then refund the shipping that is automatically charged at check out via PayPal within 24 hours.

I have lots of new things to list and many more things I am working on! I have found an awesome glass studio here in San Antonio and I am signed up to take a number of lampworking classes over the next few months. I have a brand new torch and an oxygen concentrator on the way! I should be back out melting glass and working hard on my bead making skills very shortly. Hopefully I will have something of my own to offer some time after the beginning of the year! Thanks for stopping by! Sign up for my mailing list over on the right side of this page!

Moving Sale!!!

I am packing up my life and moving from Oregon to Texas. In order to facilitate this massive undertaking, I am trying to lighten my load, so I am putting my Etsy shops entire inventory on sale from now until I pack things up in a couple of weeks. Once I close my shop for the move these great prices will end. I will reopen once I get settled on the other end and prices will go back to their regular price point.


I can't give an exact date as to how long this sale will last, but it will be approx. two to three weeks and then I am packing up what is left and moving it all to Texas! It may be a few weeks once I get there before I reopen my shop. It just all depends on how fast I can get my house put together.


I am currently feeling completely overwhelmed by the whole process and would prefer to just wake up in Texas rather than have to do all the work necessary to prepare for this move and actually get there, but I guess I have to act like an adult and just do it! If you have any questions about items in the shop, please don't hesitate to send me a convo or e-mail.

Favorite Things...

Once in a while you stumble across a store or a website that has something that looks like it might just be the right thing for you. You decide to give it a try and are please as punch with your first purchase so you make another, which leads to another... I have found just this sort of place on Etsy. Another shop named Far a field has a fantastic selection of handmade sterling silver rings featuring pearls, crystals, lampwork beads(a girl after my own heart) and some semi-precious gemstones. She will make many of the rings with gold filled wire if a gold ring is desired rather than sterling silver. Most are available with custom sizing and the shop owner Polly has done an outstanding job of making each ring fit perfectly every time I have ordered. I have a fairly unique ring size which falls in between a whole and a half size, so getting the size right can be a little tricky.



I love the look of these rings and the way they are very well made, somewhat refined, but still very artisan and handmade. I find the rings I have purchased to be very wearable and durable. These are not at all flimsy and don't bend easily while being worn. There are many customizable rings available in the shop with birthstone colors for family rings, she has a really cool option for bridesmaid rings, and even sells a tutorial for a wire and pearl ring if you want to try your hand at making your own! There are also some pendants, earrings, and necklaces available in the shop as well.


To date I have bought three rings for myself and one as a gift. I love all of them, but I think my favorite of all is the ring called Fizz with the randomly placed white Swarovski pearls! I wear it constantly and get frequent compliments. I was in a very high end jewelry store the other day and the sales person helping me even commented on it, when I told her I bought it on Etsy she said how much she loved Etsy and talked about what she shops most for. She even asked for my business card to my Etsy shop. You just never know where you'll find interest!

New Listings On Etsy!

This is just a sampling of the new listings currently in my Etsy shop.The beautiful artisan made lampwork beads featured in this bracelet come from Blissful Garden Beads, on Etsy.



I don't know what it is about a cupcake, but I am rendered powerless around them. This one happens to be glass, but I will take all types! I love to eat them, love to make jewelry out of them and hopefully someday, I can even make my own lampwork cupcakes! For now I will have to rely on the talent of others since I can only successfully produce a round bead, and that isn't all the time! This adorable set of beads was created by Crazy Lady Beads, on Etsy.


These have become some of my favorite beads. They are created by Susan Sheehan, on Etsy. She makes a wonderful selection in an array of colors as well as other beautiful beads in other styles. These are great beads for bracelets since they lay nice and flat on your wrist and don't flip around while your wearing your piece. I have made several bracelets with this style bead with more to come. If they don't sell in my shop, they will all just become part of my collection, which won't hurt my feelings!


I can't say enough about owning classic pieces. I love them and reach for them time and time again. Some days you just don't know what to wear and it is so nice to have a few things that go with anything.

I have lots more pieces planned for summer, since we are just getting started, but I am well into my mental plans for fall. I am truly enjoying this business and appreciate all who have supported me. I am thrilled to be home full time now and will endeavor to make more and better blog post, keep the Etsy shop filled with new and interesting things and keep working away at my skills to learn making lampwork beads. Hopefully someday my creations will feature some of my own hand torched beads! I will likely continue to buy beads from the many incredibly talented artist out there. There is so much diversity in this art form which I will likely never cover all of on my own, but I will want to feature in my jewelry designs.

I am very careful to only use artisan made lampwork beads, made by self representing artist. What does this mean? These beads are not mass produced over seas, by underpaid factory worker in less than ideal conditions. The beads have been made one at a time here in the US, although I have some sources in Canada and a few other foreign countries, they all meet this same criteria. The beads are properly annealed in a kiln. This is a process similar to tempering glass, which cools that glass at a controlled rate, which insures it's safety to be used in jewelry and gives it a long life. Mass produced foreign beads, while they often times may look just as pretty, are usually not annealed, making them unsafe for long term jewelry use, since they can easily break at anytime. You will frequently find these beads for sale for a fraction of the cost of beads made by a self representing artist.

How do you know what to buy and who to buy from??? Well, it's a bit of a trial and error process, but you are going a long way to assuring yourself the best product by purchasing from someone who has acquired a self representing artist designation, which has a number assigned to it, they will tell you in their listings, or if you ask, what types of glass they used in their creation, and how they annealed them. There are still varying levels of quality and service out there. I have found some incredibly talented artist that offer very poor customer service. This is unfortunate since they make wonderful, beautiful beads, but they must count on a lot of new business, or have a lot of REALLY tolerant customers.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Until next time....

Moving On!!!

After what seems like 100 years, not four, Bob is finally done with his degree in nursing, has taken his licensing exam and is an RN at long last. As of this writing, a job is still something he is pursuing. Hopefully he will be able to find something locally. Amazingly for the first time in 30 years, most hospitals have gone into hiring freezes, even with Rn's. It's not that the overwhelming demand for Rn's has changed, it is only growing. The photos here are of the University of Portland School of Nursing Pinning Ceremony. Bob opted not to participate in the actual graduation commencement ceremony. This was a very nice program done just for the students from the nursing program, and they received their pin, which has been given out to graduates since the first class graduated in 1937.


This is a lovely picture of our very photogenic family! I think you could take 100 pictures and still not get a good one of all of us! We at least all look happy, although I am not sure about Emily, she could be bored.


In other news, I have left my job with the school district a little sooner than planned, but I am happier for it. I really enjoyed the years I worked with the elementary kids, and a great number of the staff members. I had planned to quit at the end of the school year, but certain situations, not worth talking about here, expedited my departure. For me this has turned out to be great timing since Bob is still not working so we have a lot of time to spend together. After four long years in school, we lost out on a lot of quality time and have a bit of catching up to do. We have already gotten a good start on planting a vegetable garden, eaten out ALONE several times, and have plans to take the dogs to the beach this week since the weather is supposed to be nice.


I am working diligently at learning to make lampwork beads. It is quite a process to learn. It is not something that, for me, is second nature, so I am having to just patiently and methodically work at learning each step of the process. I am very glad to have taken classes. I think I would be far more frustrated if I hadn't. I am certain that I will take more, since I am such a visual learner. I have some really great books, and they do help, but there is nothing like being able to do something with an experienced person watching and be able to tell you what you are doing wrong and how to correct it.

Quinn and I spend a couple hours every night out in the garage melting glass. So far I haven't sent any molten glass projectiles his way. As long as I think he'll be safe he can stay, but if things get dangerous, I don't want to burn the dog! I am really anxious to get a better torch since I learned on a great high end torch, so my simple Hot Head torch has been a bit of a step backwards. I am getting it down more now. I spent more time reading in Cindy Jenkins book, since she invented the darn thing, I figured she would have the best instruction in regards to it. I may do a bit of research on the Internet as well. I need to get some better visual pictures as to flame setting etc. Also the expense of these mapp gas canisters is crazy! I would use a larger propane tank, but I don't know where I can get it filled with the mapp gas. I think this week I will check with the welding supply place since these little canisters are costing way to much. I am just too slow at shaping beads right now, which is part of the problem, but I am not getting enough use out of a tank.

As always, I am trying to keep my Etsy shop fresh and intresting. I have a bunch of new summery listing for you to check out. I will try to do a post of those here soon. If you'd like to contact me you can leave a message here or through my Etsy shop. Thanks for stopping by!

My New Adventure!

I've started a new adventure! I am learning to make lampwork beads! First let me say its not as easy as it looks and I now have a great deal of respect for anyone putting out halfway decent beads! Those who are making perfect beads, well to you I say... I am not worthy!!! If I ever get past this awkward stage I am presently in, I will think I an a bead goddess. That isn't to say I would be making anything that is even saleable, just not as bad as my first few attempts!



I am taking classes here in the Portland area from Trina Rindy of Reflections in Glass. She is infinitely patient! I am learning a lot, even though I feel like I am moving slowly, I think I am getting a really solid foundation. I would rather come away with just a few basics, well learned, than a lot of expanded information that only overwhelms you and leaves you feeling unsuccessful. Trina and her husband Jim, make and sell fused glass objects on their web site, as well as at the wonderful Portland Saturday Market. Trina makes lampwork beads and jewelry pieces which are also featured in both places.


I was surprised at how calm I felt behind the torch, which as you can see from the pictures, Trina has one very nice torch! It's a very calming zen like experience watching the glass and rotating the mandrel.



When I left after the first day I was pretty sure I had made some of the most hideous beads ever and was pleasantly surprised when I returned for my second class that they weren't as bad as I thought they were going to look. They are by no means classic works of art, but I made them and they aren't the worst looking things ever.


This is certainly a challenging art form to learn. It is going to take a whole lot of work to get good at this. I know I will be spending a lot of hours behind the torch learning how to make the glass do what I want it to do. I've already learned NOT to touch hot glass! It may not look hot still, but it is! I will no doubt post updates on my progress from time to time here on my blog, and maybe someday my Etsy shop will have pieces made with my own hand torched beads!

New Additions To My Etsy Shop!

I finally have my new photos edited and I am putting up my new additions in my Etsy shop. This is just a sampling of the items I have, with many more to come. I have also taken new photos of some older items giving them a freshening up. It's amazing how much a better picture can change the look of things. Bob has said several times before, that he hadn't seen that listing, when it had been there for months, a new photo just gave it new life!


I just love this bracelet with the little chicken and egg! It is beyond cute! I don't think you can take your self seriously at all wearing a chicken, but hey, I think we all need to have a little more fun in life! Things have gotten way to serious and too much of a downer, so I say... wear a chicken!



One of my favorite things about summer is the abundance of fruit,cherries being one of my most favorite! If you haven't been by my shop lately, stop by, there are lots of new things to see, with new items being added almost daily. I am trying to keep things fresh and interesting, with a mix of whimsy and fun colorful stuff that is a little less whimsical for the people less likely to wear a chicken bracelet. I've been adding more earrings as well, I am trying to work on that earring block I've had!
Hope to see you soon!

A Little Taste Of Spring...

I finally got outside today to take some photos for my Etsy shop. It was neither sunny nor raining for a short time, so I took advantage of the moment. I'd post some teasers of whats up and coming, but I haven't finished editing them yet.


My photo assistant Quinn, who is always there to help me. (he even re-adjusts things for the pictures some times.) After we got done taking pictures he got a bath!!! This only happens a couple of times a year, but I thought he should look his best with the new puppy coming tomorrow! I used that furminator thing on him first. I can't say that he is terribly fond of it, mostly tolerates the brushing, but it sure does work! The kitty on the other hand loves the furminator! She purrs the entire time you are brushing her with it. I gave her a good brushing, and clipped her claws to make her a little less of a threat to the new puppy. I think she knows that something is up, she's been sniffing around the new kennel we bought and keeping her eye on it. I think she did the math... one more kennel means....

I cleaned the carpets so we have a fresh start at puppy training. I know there will be accidents, but it really needed it, and since Basil had multiple seizures, losing control of his bodily functions as a result, I wanted to give the area a good cleaning so the puppy didn't think that was the indoor potty spot! I am sure I will have pictures and an update sometime this weekend on all the new puppy excitement! I will try and get some new things listed in my Etsy shop this weekend, and yes, the spring clearance sale is still plugging along! I don't think I will be leaving the listings up on sale much longer, I will probably be removing them altogether from my shop in the near future. So, if you were considering one of the clearance items, they won't be available much longer.

What A Great Weekend!

We had absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend! We even had the doors and windows open today! I love the fresh air, my neighbors on one side who we love prefer their air conditioner and already have it going, our neighbors on the other side, that are less than appreciative of our existence, like having their doors and windows open. We are privileged to hear all of the very loud conversations they have, especially the mothers exchanges with her two young boys. Now, If only I could get them to enjoy their A/C and have our other neighbors open their doors and windows we'd have a really good time! I guess that is the nature of things! Unfortunately!

I was going to take some pictures of new pieces for my Etsy shop to get posted this week, but it was actually too sunny! I am not complaining, it's spring in Oregon, I am guaranteed more overcast and rainy days to come! In the mean time I still have plenty of items left in my spring clearance sale to pick from, so if you haven't already, go check it out!

My friend Nikki at Bastille bleu has been hard at work creating some great new spring lampwork bead set that are now listed on her Etsy shop, stop by and see what she has been up to! My Mom has also been working hard on her Etsy shop PG'sGemspiration. She has a bunch of new listings to check out, stop by and see her as well.

Easter is coming up quickly and I haven't done a thing for it yet! I'd better get out early this week and pick up something for the Easter Bunny. I didn't do any thing for Valentines Day, so if I miss two in a row there is bound to be trouble!

Spring Clearance Sale!!!

As promised I have started my spring cleaning in my Etsy shop with a SPRING CLEARANCE SALE! I added about 20 new items to my sale section today and marked down the ones that were already in there. Everything is 40% off!; These prices will remain until these items sell or I remove them from my listings. There are some really good deals in here! Especially since these are all spring themed pieces, for the most part. There are a few that are a little wintery, and some Valentine’s Day pieces in there, but it is all still very fresh and relevant. Only the items listed with a sale price are on sale, and given the deep discount offered there is limited sizing available. I can add up to one inch of extender chain, at no additional cost. If you want a bracelet sized down, there will be a small fee, just send me a message to inquire if you are interested. At these prices, I am almost paying you to take these things away! I have relisted a few of the bracelets so they are on the top of the main page, but all items can be found in the sale section of my Etsy shop. Stop by soon and have a peek, you’ll want to catch these deals before they slip away

Do Girls Cause Trouble?

Have you ever wondered why Peter was always getting into Mr. Macgregors garden? I think it must have been some girl bunny! He was just trying to grow big and Strong to impress her! After all aren't we girls usually the source of the reason boy do foolish things? I made this sweet little Easter bracelet for my Etsy shop and I think it turned out adorable! The little girl bunny is certainly cute enough to catch peters attention, plus she had her own carrot to offer, who could pass that up! It of course has an Easter egg with pink polka dots and a little pink rose, some cute little raised dot beads, that look like old fashioned Swiss dot fabric, and some small lampwork rondelles. I used Swarovski crystals in spring colors and sterling silver spacer beads to finish it off. If you'd like to take a look, its listed in my Etsy shop, with more photos and info. You can also contact me here. Thanks for looking!

It's All About The Love...

Cupcake love that is! At the risk of having done TOO many post about cupcakes, I am going to do one more. I can't promise this will be the last since I am on a cupcake bracelet theme of sorts, so it could happen again. The photo is of my latest listing called "Cupcake Love", it is my favorite so far. I am in love with pink, black, white and lime together. I just put the bracelet up in my Etsy shop tonight, along with the accompanying earrings. I know... earrings? I am working on getting more in my shop. I have such a thing for bracelets, that I have kind of lost any inspiration for earrings. I am tring, so when I think of something I think will work, I am giving it a go. Taking pictures of them has been a bit of a challenge for me, I am working on that also. I think the cupcake earring photos came out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

I just got in some really cute beads which I will be working on this weekend. I have the cutest set of cactus beads! They are going to make such a cute bracelet! I have some really pretty lentil shaped beads from an Etsy seller I just got in. I thought maybe they were going to be too big, but I think they are going to be a great size. I am really bad about visualizing size on the Internet. I have a gauge that sits right here next to the computer,(Thank you Clarkie!)but I still have trouble knowing just how big or small things are going to look unless it is something I have had experience buying, then I have a reference. I also don't know my left from my right, I doubt that will ever change! My husband thought when we got married I could just look at the hand with the rings and know it was left. Only problem is, when I look at the ring hand I still have to think, do you wear your rings on your left hand or your right hand? My car has an arrow that points to the side that the gas tank is on, I've had the car for 7 years, I still need the arrow!

I still have a whole bunch of things still to list, plus more pictures to take and lots more beads to make new things with, so if you haven't looked at my Etsy shop lately, chances are there are some new things you haven't seen yet.

Shop Update...

This week I listed several new pieces in my Etsy shop over the weekend including the one shown here called "Sunnyside Up". This bracelet features beads from Desert Bug Designs. She is not an Etsy seller, but her work is so popular, highly sought after and distinctive, that I went a head and listed where the beads came from, even though it is basically my personal policy to only list by name the artist I buy from, if they are Etsy sellers. It is my goal to promote Etsy in general, so if they sell there I will list them. Doesn't matter to me if they sell other places as well, that is up to you to figure out, I'm just only going to list the Etsy connection.

This bracelet got quite a bit of attention this week! It was listed in TWO treasuries on Etsy! I was so excited when I got a message about the first one and completely shocked the next day when I got another message from someone else letting me know they also had used it in a treasury! It's amazing to me with all the volume of stuff on Etsy that someone would find and pick anything of mine! Both treasuries were about things either sunny or pink, both well represented in this piece I suppose! I'd put the links up here, but the treasuries run for such a brief period of time that they will have expired before anyone has a chance to read this.

I love these beads! They are sunny, bright and very detailed to say the least. The artist certainly puts as much as one possibly can into every millimeter of bead. This artists strands of beads routinely sell for well over $100.00. I was fortunate to not have paid anywhere near that much, but this is still the most expensive set of beads I have bought so far. I think they are worth the price, given all the workmanship involved. One only needs to have a basic understanding of lampworking to see how much work is involved in each bead.

I have learned a lot over the past few months of buying lampwork beads and am proud to say I buy only artisan made lampwork beads made by artist who live here in the USA. I have seen some very talented people on Etsy from Canada, Australia and Europe as well, but I am too impatient to order from them! It's not even the cost of shipping, most offer very competitive rates, it's knowing I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to get my beads. I'm not sure how this is any different than waiting for made to order beads, since they can take that long as well. I guess I may have some flawed logic, which may need some reconsideration.

I also posted some fantastic pieces in my shop featuring beads by my friend nikki, of Bastile Bleu on Etsy. Look for bracelets named "Day At The Zoo", "Reflections In Gray", and a piece yet to be listed called "Laughing Heart". She does a fantastic job with her beads and offers a wide variety of styles to chose from. You have to check out her new baby dragon hatchlings! These are adorable! I'm getting one for myself since I am a dragon by the Chinese zodiac, even though no one ever believes I could be a dragon...(she says sarcastically!)

I've got another cupcake bracelet finished and ready to list. This one even has matching earrings... I'm not going to show a picture of it here yet.. it's so cute! I'll unveil it later this week in my Etsy shop!

Does Starbucks Have a Treatment Center Or Support Group?

I just got done paying the bills, I put it off as long as possible, only to have a pile of debit receipts a mile high to enter into the check register. I noticed a trend while I was performing this tedious task, there were quite a number of Starbucks receipts. I will admit that I did contribute a few, but the majority belonged to another member of this household. I am beginning to wonder if I should look into some type of out-patient treatment program or a possible support group. At the very least I think we should look into buying stock, since we would be supporting our own interests that way.

Bob did just win a bunch of gift certificates to Starbucks from a local radio station, they are only for the new line of tea lattes, which he will drink, and they expire on February 28th 2009, so we have to use them up quickly. I feel I will have a tea/caffeine charged weekend ahead of me. Thank goodness they now have a drive through close by. I put on a hat to hide the unwashed state of my locks, get into my cozy slippers, throw my Quinn, trusted golden retriever, go with guy, companion extraordinaire, in the car, and off we go. The gals in the drive through are usually so enamored by Quinn they don't even notice the mess that I am...

You can check in with my shop later this weekend to see what all that caffeine may have accomplished..

New Listings In My Shop!!!!

Well, I finally have made, photographed and listed the first of my cupcake creations in my Etsy Shop. I am very please with how it turned out.
I added another bracelet today and will continue to add pieces throughout the week. I still have more pictures to take, but I am taking a more calm approach to my process these days. I am not trying to take too many pictures at once, which then just overwhelms me in the editing process. That part tends to be a bit tedious as it is, so I think I am doing better taking it in smaller chunks. I am updating my slide show tonight, so some of the items not yet listed will be on there. If you see something there that is not listed and you are interested, just leave me a message here or contact me through my Etsy shop

I bought a set of beads from a seller on Etsy and I just love them! I knew when I bought them, they were for me, and when they arrived, I was certain that the only place they were going was around my wrist! I made the cutest bracelet out of them! I can duplicate this design if anyone is interested. I just need a little extra time since these are special order beads. As long as the artist still has them available I'd be happy to make this for someone else, but this one is MINE!

My head hasn't been too happy this week, so that has slowed down my creative streak a bit. I will try to get back to my beads tomorrow. If not, there are always more pictures to take. The amazing thing about running this business is I really am enjoying it, despite the fact that I spend a ridiculous amount of time doing it. I am getting better at balancing it out with the rest of my life, but it certainly takes effort to figure that part out!

Oh! Wednesday tomorrow, only three days till the weekend!

Did Somebody Say SALE???

OK, It sounds more exciting than it actually is, since it isn't so much a new sale, as much a continuation of the previous one... I added a sale section to my Etsy shop and put the remaining valentine pieces in there. I will probably begin adding items I feel aren't selling and are just taking up space in the shop as time goes on. I feel I need to do some spring cleaning, so I am certain a spring sale is on the horizon. I have a lot of stock right now in my shop and it's just not all getting looked at. I know there are some really great pieces, but when they sit on the back pages, they just don't really get viewed.

I have had a fairly productive weekend. I made quite a few bracelets, and I'd give you a sneak peek here, but I haven't made made it to the photo part yet, so that will have to wait. I need to update my slide show that plays at the bottom of the page since quite a few things on there are sold. I will add a bunch of my new items onto there this week, I promise. I have been able to get the laundry done, did the dishes, have dinner cooking, had Emily vacuum and dust(thank goodness for slave labor!), I even got Bob to clean up his mess, although he didn't like my approach very much!

I have a lot more beads still in the mail... I have made some SUPER cute stuff for the shop! Including the much talked about cupcakes! I am amazed at the array of talented lampwork artist I have been able to find. They all bring something different to the party! It's so much fun! I really enjoy working with this type of bead! They are just fascinating!

I should have some pictures taken tonight and new listings going up in my Etsy shop little by little this week! Thanks for stopping by