Item of the Day February 8th 2011

Today's item is a lovely woodsy spring set of handmade lampwork glass beads. These are called Into the Forest as the feeling they evoke is of one lightly stepping out of the sunlight, onto the dappled forest path. Cool, green, leafy canopy overhead, the beginnings of adventure! You can find these beads in my Artfire shop SilverRiverGlassWorks, or simply click on the picture, it will take you directly to that listing.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well my garden is finally growing lol. Bit of a late start here this year, lots of rain, kind of cool. I finally got my topsy turvy tomato going (I have been dying to try this since its something my dogs can't trample lol). I also put the seeds in the seedling flats, the wildflowers are coming up already, the veggies, not yet. My daughter and son bought me roses for Mothers Day this year and I got those planted. Here are some pictures of the the roses and also of my irises which are doing very well this year. I am really hoping that the peppers, green beans and watermelon do well. I planted basil also and would like to add a couple more herbs to the collection. I would have liked to put in some cat nip for my cats but unfortunately there are a LOT of cats in our neighborhood and I have no desire to entice them all into my front yard lol.

Spring Cleaning and Treasure Hunt!

Check it out! I am a proud member of this guild and we have some really nice things to give away. Remember that you can't enter until April 17th but you could probably start gathering info now. Not all of us will have everything up until then but hey it's a great excuse to look at a lot of nice jewelry lol! And if you stop in my shop and decide to purchase something I will give 10% off if you put *Ajdjss guild* into the notes to seller.

Ajdjss Guild "Spring Cleaning & Treasure Hunt" Event

The Ajdjss Guild "Spring Cleaning and Treasure Hunt" Event starts on April 17th and runs through May 1st.
To visit the guild's shops you need to search in the handmade section for "ajdjss guild" and in the supplies section for "ajdjss guild". When you do this all our studios will come up for you to visit.
When you visit our studios you will find that each one has a special section called "Spring Cleaning"--check out this section for fabulous sales and specials on beautifully handcrafted jewelry and wonderful jewelry supplies. Deals you will find hard to resist.
But that's not all--We are having a "Treasure Hunt"--with the chance for you to win fabulous handcrafted jewelry from our talented jewelry artisans!

Here is the info about our special "Treasure Hunt":
1.Visit our studios and check out the "Spring Cleaning" Section.

2.Find the item with the special "treasure phrase" in the last sentence of it's decription.

3.There are 2 phrases--"This is a piece of jewelry to treasure for a lifetime" or
"This can be used to create a piece of jewelry to treasure for a lifetime."

4. Find 10 studios with the hidden phrases and you will be entered in a drawing for a pair of lovely handcrafted earrings.

Find 15 studios with the hidden phrases and you will be entered in a drawing for a beautiful handcrafted bracelet.

Find 20 studios with the hidden phrases and you will be entered in a drawing for a fabulous handrafted necklace.

5. There will be 3 winners in each category.

6. Contact Beadlady5 with the names of the studios, your name, and your email address. Beadlady5 can be contacted by clicking on the guild's avatar at the top right of this page.

Spring Give Away!

So spring is right around the corner and Ohio got a little taste of it over the weekend (including heavy downpours lol). It was such a nice change from icy winds, lots of snow and gloomy gray skies. In fact it put me in such a good mood I decided to do a give away of my own. I will be giving away my Vintage Glass Sky Blue Cat's Eye Sterling Silver Ring. I will make this in your size if you win. (sizes 4 to 15 available and it will take a week or two for me to mail since it will be custom sized for you).

The rules are simple. Go to either my 1000Markets shop or my Artfire shop and choose the item that you like the best and then leave your pick in the comments along with a way to reach you if you win. Also please leave your ring size in the comments. The winner will be chosen by random.org on Sunday March 15th 2009.

"Lovely vintage blue cats eye glass cabochon set in a fine silver bezel with a sterling silver hammered band. This ring is oxidized to give it a lovely aged finish."

Have fun and good luck! If you decide to make a purchase during this give away simply put Spring Blog Giveaway in the notes to seller and I will refund 10% of the price.

Spring Alert!

Okay check out what I just found on Artfire. Now I am really longing for spring to arrive (as the sun glares off the snow that fell last night and this morning lol)!

All of Andrews items are recycled and I am going to insert what he has to say about them as he is much more clear and coherent than I am lol! As some of you may know I am a big believer in helping our environment and am doubly happy that I found Andrews stuff since it combines my love of gardening and nature with eco friendly things lol! Here is what Andrew has to say about what he does:

Quality And Value

Prized by boat builders and other artists for centuries, clear Western Red Cedar is the very best lumber for outdoor use. Its properties of stiffness, straightness of grain, high strength-to-weight ratio, resistance to decay, beautiful color, and enchanting scent are even greater when sawn from old-growth trees.

Unfortunately, there are so few old-growth cedar trees left, that with a steadily growing demand, the cost of this material is rising at such a rate that it’s becoming difficult for we as consumers to justify its use over cheap-looking shiny alternatives. The good news is, the lower prices I pay for this higher quality lumber gives me room to spend the time to carefully craft into each piece properties of unusual strength, and higher overall quality than normally found in cedar garden structures, and to sell the finished piece at a fair price.

Originality

Every piece is unique, as all have been crafted from woods full of different clues to its history, in decades-old fastener holes, tool marks, embedded mineral stains, and other minor inclusions. Although I saw and plane most stock to uniform thicknesses, I like these imperfections to remain as evidence of its antiquity.

Environmentally Friendly Goals

Thank you for considering recycled cedar. You may be contributing to a healthier future for your children and theirs, by playing the most important role in the preservation of our forests, and encouraging the further use of sustainable forestry practices throughout the Pacific Northwest and all over the world. You are actively contributing to the conservation of some of our most beautiful and beneficial resources, while finding the perfect addition to your garden.

So, go check out his shop at ANDREWSRECLAIMED or just click on a picture to go straight to that listing. Also Andrew might have mentioned something about a give away closer to spring so make sure you check back often.

More give aways are in the works also, including jewelry (not mine lol but maybe in the future), and beauty/skin products, so that's at least 3 give aways coming up in the next couple of months.

Spring is Finally Here!

Yay! spring is finally here in Northeastern Ohio. I really feel like April has just arrived and keep writing the wrong dates on everything lol! I am so glad that the warmer weather has arrived. I am not a winter person (and WHY do I live in Ohio ha ha!). So yesterday I get up and I am really happy that the sun is out and we can open the windows. Then I got a good look at what the gloom of winter has been hiding in my house. Eeek! So instead of running off to play I decided that I had better do something about the house. Mind you I have been working really hard at getting my jewelry business off the ground and I spend a good 30 hours a week on top of my "real" job online either promoting or posting new items or just general shop and website maintenance. This does not count the time I spend making things. Not complaining just stating the facts. Now my kids have normal chores so all this time that I have been neglecting the house the basics have been getting done (as well as teenagers ever do things, I think I should have been paying closer attention lol). So I did get quite a bit accomplished but realized that I really need to take 1 day a week to just work on stuff around the house and maybe just check e-mails so I don't miss anything that has been sold. I would love some comments on how everyone manages to get everything done in their lives and still stay sane lol! I am off to check out the garden and see what is beginning to bloom.

Hopefully we will have all of the pictures in from our 12 designers for the 2nd beading challenge very soon. I will also be doing another featured etsy artist soon.

Nesting Blue Herons at Cuyahoga Valley National Parks

Okay this is totally unrelated to jewelry but your are going to get that sometimes. Believe it or not I do have a life outside of the jewelry and the internet. Kind of. Anyway we live about 15 minutes away from the Cuyahoga Valley National Parks system in Ohio. Beautiful place and we spend a lot of time there over the summer, hiking, barbecuing etc. Lots of hills and valleys, a beautiful river that kind of thing. My husband and I decided to go check out the blue herons that nest along the park. They only nest in one particular spot for about a month. Blink and you have missed it. Well it was kind of a dreary day today, gray and damp about 60 degrees but we went anyway. It was an amazing site to see all of these beautiful birds building nests and feeding babies. Unfortunately most of my pictures look black and white and mostly look like silhouettes due to the gray nature of the day. But I am going to post them anyway lol. Also saw a beautiful magnolia tree just beginning to bloom at the ecological society. Maybe, just maybe spring is coming! I sure hope so!