Hip, hip, hooray!

Oops! No Bead Table Wednesday yesterday :( I was running around all day long, and I didn't even get into my craft room. I'm so glad it's a new day.

Today I thought I would share a birthday card I made for a friend. I wanted to do something fun and different, so I decided to stack some hippos on top of one another. I mean, really, what's more adorable than a pod of hippos?

I used my Prismacolor pencils and some odorless mineral spirit to color in each hippo, and I used dimensionals to pop out the middle hippo to add extra interest to the card.

In case you don't know, hippos are my FAVORITE animal. Why? Well, I don't really have one particular reason other than they're so squishy and cute and they always look like they're smiling.

Just look at that face! Don't you just want to kiss her? You know what she's thinking? She's saying, "If only there weren't six inches of glass separating us, I'd eat you!" Awwww...so sweet!

Add in a baby, and oh-my-goodness! I don't see why I couldn't take him home.

I just need a big pond and...six inches of plexiglass to separate us. But wait, who would clean the poo? I think that would be a job for Travis!

Stay tuned for some Friday Favorites! Later!

Baby Congrats

Tis the season for babies! They seem to be popping up all over the place, so naturally I had a need for some baby cards. This particular one was for a baby boy, and it turned out to be my favorite.

I love how the little stroller fit perfectly in the circle, and I think the buttons add a fun touch.

Speaking of babies, mine is doing just fine. He is a very happy, healthy and too-smart-for-his-own-good puppy. He is 14 weeks old this week.

My baby is growing up too quickly!

Before I know it, he'll be as big as a horse! Okay, maybe not as big as a horse, but as big as Sedona :)

Yeah...I tried to dress her up one day with one of my hats, and she was about as pleased as a fly caught in honey. She's a good sport, though!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Birthday

Hello all! Happy Labor Labor Day! I hope this holiday weekend finds you in a relaxed state of mind. I'm hoping to escape into my craft room today, but we'll see. For now, I'd like to share a birthday card I made a few months ago.

This card was super simple to piece together. I used left over pattern paper scraps to make the different sized boxes. I then wrapped those boxes in some satin ribbon by Paper Trey Ink.

I used my antique typewriter to spell out the sentiment on the front of the card, and I rounded the corners using my corner chomper, and viola! Instant chic card.

Looks like all critters are down for the count at the moment. I think I'll sneak off to my craft room now. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Friday Favorites - Owen and his Tire

Quick post today.

Owen is growing like a weed, but one thing remains the same - he has a love/hate relationship with his tire toy. At first, he was scared of it (that was weeks ago). Then he was indifferent. Now, he just wants to put it in its place. And so the battle rages on...



Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Crystal Briollete Earrings

Happy Thursday and happy September! Last night I got a burst of energy and went in my craft room for a little while. My friend asked me to make her a pair of earrings out of the box of vintage and antique beads and buttons she gave me a few months ago. My first thought was to pull out the gorgeous crystal briollete beads and wire wrap them.

Aren't those crystals just sublime?! I LOVE them and can't wait to make a pair for myself. A black Swarovski bead finishes off the look. You'll notice that my wire wrapping isn't perfect. I intentionally made it messy so as to give the earrings a shabby feeling.

I'm thinking it's time to go back into the craft room and get to work! See you all tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

BTW

I am happy to report that instead of it being 110F with 100% humidity (like it was on Saturday), it's only going to be 104F with 0% humidity. I think I've officially gone mad if I'm happy about 104F weather.

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means - Bead Table Wednesday! Right now, I have a few goodies on my table that I've been mulling over.

As to whether I'm going to get to to actually play with these beads remains to be seen. I have my hands full with a certain someone who is now 13 weeks old.

He says "Woof!" to his adoring fans.

Golem Birdie Necklace

Today I'd like to share a necklace I made to celebrate my friend's new job. She plays with beads too, and one day while she was at my house I found her admiring this pendant.

It's a beautiful hand painted ceramic focal piece by Golem Design Studio, a husband and wife team from Bulgaria now living and creating here in the US. If you're in to beading, I highly suggest checking out their website. They offer FREE SHIPPING on orders of $10 or more! You can't beat that deal.

I took a cue from the gorgeous blue and orange color scheme and based my creation around that color palette using orange agates and blue Swarovski crystals. I filled the spaces with cream colored seed beads.

I finished the piece with a rhodium plated heart clasp.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Rosary for a Friend

A few months ago a good friend of mine decided to join the Catholic faith. As a present, I made her this amethyst rosary. I used Czech glass beads and a sterling silver cross.


I love the way the facets reflect all sorts of different colors.

I love making rosaries, so if you ever have a need just let me know!

Friday Favorites

Just a few of my favorite pictures from the week. Have a good weekend everyone!

Owen 12 weeks old

Owen's daddy (and Sedona's nephew), Herky

My two Great Danes

Sedona and Ms. Pebbles

My cutie-patotie

My wise old gal

BTW

I've been blurfing (blog surfing) a lot of jewelry blogs lately, and I've come across a general Wednesday theme called "Bead Table Wednesday."


The idea behind BTW is fairly self-explanatory: show the beads you have on your craft table that you are currently playing with. I thought it would be fun to do a BTW every so often. Perhaps it will motivate me to get to beading!

This past weekend I was able to get out of the house for a little while to go to a first annual handcraft fair in a neighboring city. While I wasn't too impressed with the festival, I was able to visit the town's local bead shop for the first time. I was in heaven. Seriously. My heaven would be bedazzled in Swarovski crystals with beads dripping from the ceiling. Sigh.


Don't you just feel like beading? Look at all those lovelies! And check out the antique letterpress cabinets in the picture below. All those drawers are filled with beads! It took me a little while to go through all of them.

As if that wasn't enough, this particular jewelry store is owned and operated by a very special lady. Her polymer clay work is world-renowned! Here's just a sample of what she does:

Gorgeous, right?! And if that wasn't the be-all-end-all, I got to meet her, too! She's just the sweetest thing, and I look forward to taking some classes with her in the future. Definitely check out her website here.

Of course I ended up bringing a few treasures home with me. I bought these cute polymer clay stud earrings. They'll match with everything I wear!

I also came home with some beautiful crazy lace agate in a vibrant pink, a matching mineral pendant and some resin in metal flowers.

And that's what on my bead table today! Hopefully, the inspiration fairy will come bonk me on the head and give me some mojo!