Work in Progress

Just a quickie post to show you a work in progress. Its kind of evolving as I go, so I am not entirely sure what the finished piece is going to look like! Its already quite different than I imagined it when I started. This is the centerpiece for a necklace, and my first attempt at this type of bead work. I am having a great deal of fun with it and its turning out rather well for a prototype lol!

New Beads Listed

Just a quick post to show you some of the new beads I have posted recently. First up is a pretty cobalt blue flower Big Hole Bead. The silver bead cap really is a nice shiny silver and not partly gold lol, the photo simply would not co operate.



Next up are some pretty violet purple and white dot beads.








This is a pretty set of Frog Green, Turquoise Blue and Cherry Red










And last but certainly not least, Siren's Sunset, a spectacularly hot pink and orange focal bead and one of my personal favorites!








If you are interested in any of these or simply want to browse around the glass shop simply click on one of the pictures and you will be taken directly there.

Handmade Sterling Silver And Amethyst Purple Faceted Hydro Quartz Earrings

I saw this stunning pair of bright, sparkly amethyst purple, faceted teardrops and just had to have them! They are big, bright, and sparkle like crazy. Wrapped in sterling silver this pair of earrings would be a staple in any wardrobe. Hydro quartz is a man made glass, so even though these look super expensive, they are quite affordable! Just click on the picture to get to the listing!

Fire Divas Team Treasury Giveaway!

This month, the Divas are breaking out all the stops and creating a fabulous treasure trove of beads to be featured in the Fire Divas first ever Etsy Team Treasury Giveaway!

Most of you are probably familiar with Etsy's Treasuries, which are collections of items illustrating a special theme chosen by individual curators. Well, the Fire Divas are doing something a little extra special! Not only are we creating a Treasury featuring many of the Fire Divas showing off their renditions of a "Bead Jeweled" theme, but we are giving them all away to four—yes we said, FOUR!—very lucky winners! All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment on our Treasury HERE and "heart" or add all the featured shops in it as a favorite.

Only one comment/person, please! Winners will be chosen at random on August 21, 2011.

The best way you can show your love and support for the Divas is to make sure that you and everyone you know stops by to view this amazing Treasury! Please also take a few moments to spread the news by posting a link to Facebook or your blog, tweet it, StumbleUpon, or any other social media you prefer to use.

And in the style of those infamous infomercials…"WAIT! There's more!!"

Since some of our team members don't have their own Etsy shops, we're also offering a separate Blog Giveaway here to one lucky blog reader, who will win a wonderful bead from Patrice of Shepherd Creations!

(photo coming soon!)

To enter our Blog Giveaway (separate from our Etsy Treasury Giveaway!):
Please leave a comment on the Fire Divas Blog post HERE and one winner will be chosen at random at the same time we pick the other four Treasury winners.

They say that a person's greatest treasure is their friends—and you, our fans—are some of our greatest treasures too! Thank you very much for your support from all of us here on the Fire Divas team!!

Jimmy Buffet Concert

So this is going to be one of those posts that have nothing to do with business at all.

My husband is a huge Jimmy Buffet fan, and was really excited when he heard that he was going to be at Blossom this year. We have gone to lots of great concerts at Blossom over the years, its a huge, bowl shaped out door concert area about 20 minute from where we live. The beverages are a wee bit expensive but I am sure that is par for the course no matter what the venue.

Anyway, I had hoped to buy him tickets for our 23rd wedding anniversary which happened to be 10 days before the concert. (yes, we got married in July, imagine, heavy silk wedding dress, 105 degrees, and no air in the church lol, we couldn't get to the reception fast enough!) Then I found out how much the tickets were ($100 a ticket). Needless to say, this is NOT in our budget, so I figured my husband, who really doesn't ask for much, was doomed to miss Jimmy Buffet.

Sooo, my MIL knows how much her son likes Jimmy Buffet and came to me and said, "If I buy tickets for your anniversary gift will you go with him?" (she knows me all too well, I would rather stay home and make beads lol). I like Jimmy Buffet, I just don't like him at $100 a ticket lol. So of course, I was not going to take away my husbands only chance of seeing Jimmy Buffet live.

Tuesday evening rolls around, the concert starts at 8 and its smoking hot lol! The place is packed to the gills, totally sold out with barely two feet of grass in site anywhere. We had a blast anyway and my husband was a happy camper! It was a good concert and very mellow, you know how each concert has a certain feel to it depending on who's playing and what kind of music it is? This one was very relaxing, no violence, to nastiness. And the music was fine.

Monthly Fire Divas Challenge Please Vote!

It's time for the Fire Divas Monthly Themed Challenge! For the month of July the theme of this challenge will be "Tide Pool." The entries must have something to do with the ocean and it's changing tides. Look below to see these beautiful catches!



Please vote for your favorite entry on the right side of the Fire Divas blog and leave a comment there to be entered to win a $20 gift certificate from Patrice at Shepherd Creations! Please include your email address with your comment so that we are able to contact you about your prize.



***You can find the poll to the right and at the top of the page***

My Review of Sagaform Pot Holder

Originally submitted at Sierra Trading Post

Closeouts . Kitchen-complementing patterns and durable, washable cotton twill make Sagaform's pot holder the perfect, hands-saving kitchen companion. Dimensions: 11x8" Fabric: Cotton Care: Machine wash, hang dry Made in India

Sagaform Pot Holder

Attractive AND Sturdy

By SilverRiver from Ohio on 7/15/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Attractive Design, Well made, Sturdy, Durable, Thick

Best Uses: Kitchen, BBQ, Outdoors

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

Great pot holders, nice and thick, no chance of burning my hands with these. And they are big enough that I can get a good grip on a large dish. They are also big enough to put a large pot on top of on the table and thick enough, I know it won't leave any heat marks on the wood.

(legalese)

Christmas in July!

Its time for the annual Christmas in July sale in my Artfire shop! Use coupon code
CHRISTMASINJULY and receive 20% off your entire purchase (not including shipping of course). This is a great opportunity to get started on some early Christmas shopping or to stock up on gifts for the rest of the year. Click on the link above or click on one of he pictures. Have fun shopping!

Please Vote for Us!

Christmas in July Sale!

I will be having a Christmas in July sale in my jewelry shop on Artfire. The sale will run from July 1st to July 30th. I will have a coupon code up here on my blog and also in my shop on Artfire. The sale will be 20% off every item in the shop. Simply use the coupon code CHRISTMASINJULY during checkout and the 20% will be taken off automatically. Please note that this sale starts on July 1st. It does include the sale section in my shop also, so you can find some really good deals!

More Info on the Fire Diva's March Appreciation Sale

The Fire Divas wish to show our heartfelt thanks to you, our customer, for your continued patronage and enthusiastic support of us. Many of you have become our good friends ;-). It is customers like you who are largely responsible for making us the best that we can be. The consistent feedback and support we get from you has helped us scale new heights in improving the quality of our products.

Lutrick              ~              Icarus Beads              ~              Fire and Sand              ~              Ema K Designs

But we don't want to just talk about our appreciation—we want to show you in a more concrete way! Beginning this Friday, March 25 - April 2, 2011, we're having a Special Customer Appreciation Week—just for you! You will find sales ranging from 15 to 20% off our normal prices, and other special offers. The list of participating Fire Divas can be found below with specific coupon codes and sale details for either their Etsy and/or Artfire shops.   

Susan Lambert           ~           Ugly Duckling Beads            ~            Ashlyn Design            ~            Spawn of Flame

Ashlyn Design ~ 15% off Lori's ArtFire shop and a gift with every purchase. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS. **Please note that Lori's shop will be on "vacation mode" on April 2nd, so she will have to end her personal sale on Friday, April 1st. All other team members will have their items on sale through April 2nd.

Holly's Folly Glass ~ 15% off her Etsy shop and 20% off her website. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

SusanLambert ~ Specially marked spacer bead sets for $10 including shipping in her Etsy shop.

Lutrick ~ 20% off Lara's Etsy and ArtFire shops. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Icarus Beads ~ 20% off Judith's Etsy shop.  Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Ema K Designs ~ 20% off her Etsy and ArtFire shops.

Spawn of Flame ~ 15% off Rosemarie's Etsy and ArtFire shops. Coupon Code DIVATHANKSSPRING11

Fire and Sand ~ 20% off Karen's Etsy and ArtFire shops. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Sun Door Beads ~ 20% off Michelle's Etsy and ArtFire shops. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Ugly Duckling Beads ~ 20% off Kathleen's Etsy shop. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Rivers Edge Glass ~ 15% off Barb's Etsy and ArtFire shops. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Uvanomos            ~            Holly's Folly Glass            ~            Rivers Edge Glass            ~            Sun Door Beads

Babs Beads and Design ~ 15% off Susanne's ArtFire shop.

Shepherd Creations ~ 20% off Patrice's ArtFire shop. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Uvanomos ~ 15% off Lluvia's Etsy shop. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Amy Hall ~ Free shipping in her Etsy shop. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKS

Silver River Glass ~  10% off Sonja's Artfire shop. Coupon Code: DIVATHANKYOU

We're so happy to have served you in the past and will continue to provide you with the best in handmade artisan lampwork beads. We look forward to your continuing support, please keep in touch with us via your "comments" and your "likes" on this page, and don't forget to share us with all your friends! *Ü*

Fire Diva's March Appreciation Sale

We here at the Fire Diva's are so thankful for all of our customer's! And because we are so thankful we are having a March Appreciation sale. Please go HERE to see who is participating and which coupon codes to use. This is an event not to be missed!

Item of the Day February 9th 2011

My item of the day today is from the jewelry shop. I love these earrings, they are rustic and fun and have such rich color! Just click on the picture for more details!

I should probably mention that I won't have an item of the day every day, but was at a bit of a loss as to what else to call it lol! I tend to be a bit random about posting, my life is always just a bit crazy, so I tend to post in spurts. Anyway, enough rambling, I hope you enjoy the earrings!

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.

My Fur Babies

Okay the two dog fur babies anyway. The old man, BlackJack, spends most of his time in this position lol. He is old (13) and really prefers to watch what's going on but still loves to come over for a snuggle. His eyes are really a pale blue but I have yet to really get a good picture of that.

My other sweet pup is his daughter Ella, she is almost 6 but still very, very active lol. This is very typical of Australian Shepherds, very high energy and need lots of exercise! Putting up a privacy fence was the best thing we ever did so they could chase each other all over the yard on a regular basis! Ella has her daddy's big blue eyes and blue merle coat but her mama's tan markings.

Fire Divas Quartely Jewelry Challenge

February is a time for romance and love. It's also the time to get your jewelry into our Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge! The theme is That Special Bead. It is entirely open to your own interpretation and we hope you have fun with it! For some inspiration, head over to our Flickr page. You can win some fantastic prizes; see them HERE!

This is a really fun event and the prizes are so pretty! Don't miss out on the chance to win one of the beautiful prizes for this challenge. And its a great way to let everyone see your beautiful work! We love to see what people make from our beads and this is a great way to show your jewelry off.

Now the boring stuff:

All submissions must feature Fire Divas' lampwork. We require the name of the Fire Diva who made the beads used in the submitted piece, so if you submit something, please be ready to provide that information.

We will allow one submission per person per contest, and a maximum of two photos per submission. Entries may be submitted here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/firedivachallenge/) for approval, no later than February 10, 2011. No Flickr account? No problem. You can also email your submissions to firedivas @ gmail . com (no spaces). Please include, in the comments section or in your email, the following:
Information about the beads:
Description of the piece:
Inspiration for the piece:
Submissions will not be approved without all of this information.

Fire Divas reserve the right to approve or reject any submissions.

Fire Divas reserve the right to modify or cancel the challenge at any time.

The winners will be determined by an open poll which does not allow multiple votes.

Jewelry Item of the Week December 9th 2010

Hmmm the way things have been going lately, perhaps I should do an item of the month instead! Been crazy here since Thanksgiving! I have to say, coming down with the stomach flu the evening of Thanksgiving day (after feeding our entire extended family) was not my idea of a terribly successful day! I missed out on most of the left overs too, since I was sick for over a week. I did manage to keep down a couple pieces of apple and pecan pie though!

I did learn a new beading stitch in November and this in one of the bracelets that I made with it. I really like this stitch, I like the contrast in bead sizes and the way its woven together. You can find this in my Artifre shop.

Black Friday Madness

Well apparently the madness has begun lol! I got a text from my 20 year old son at 5:30 am this morning asking me "You not out in this craziness are you?". The answer of course, was no I am sleeping lol! His girlfriend works for target and had to be at work at 4:00 am. He went along to make sure that she got in the doors safely.

Mind you, I have nothing against Black Friday sales and have gotten up before the crack of dawn in years past, if there was something specific that I wanted for a gift. Happens that there isn't anything we HAVE to have this year that is important enough to brave the madness. We have changed our spending habits a bit and are cutting back on the massive gift giving this year. We really do have everything that we NEED, anything else is just gravy.

Having said that, I am running a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale in my shop on Artfire only. The sale will end on Tuesday morning. Just follow this link SilverRiverJewelry and it will take you there. In addition if you use the coupon code BLOG, you will receive an additional 10% off your entire order.

On a side note, one of my tree of life pendants has been featured in a Holiday Gift Guide! You can see my pendant and some other really yummy items here at knotbygranma's blog.

I do hope that all of you who braved the madness came back alive and unhurt and that you were able to get everything that you went out for!

Holiday Shopping!

Well its that time of year again, with frenzied shopping and running around trying to find that perfect gift. Make it easy on yourself and shop from home! Everything is delivered right to your door and its really, really fun to get packages in the mail. You can even buy online and have it delivered directly to the person its for! Yes, I know, you all know this already but sometimes, in the hectic holiday rush, we forget sometimes. Just so you know, I will be happy to gift wrap and send to your loved ones (just make sure your leave enough time for it to get there!). Right now, I am having a Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale (it actually started today, to give more time for shipping.) in my Artfire shop only. The prices have been marked down and the sale price is showing. If you are lo0king for well made, unique, elegant jewelry with a wee bit of whimsy, come check it out!

(I haven't decided if I am going to put the bead shop on sale yet or not, I will let you know if I do)

Interesting Trivia

Did you know that the average American home collects approximately 40 pounds of dust in a year? (thank you Readers Digest). That comes out to about 3.3 pounds of dust in a month. No wonder I can't keep up lol!

Jewelry Item of the Week November 10th

Yes, I know, I am a bit behind. I was away at a bead retreat in Pennsylvania over the last weekend in October and I just managed to get all my beady stuff unpacked this week! (more on this great weekend later) Lots going on as the holidays approach!

This bracelet is made with tiger striped lampwork glass beads made in my home studio and sterling silver. I will give a 10% discount on this bracelet if you mention that you saw it here in my blog. I will refund the 10% after purchase. Simply click on the picture and it will take you directly to the listing.

Bead of the Week October 11th 2010

Cranberry Red Orange White Handmade Glass Lampwork Beads Dots Stripes

Perfect for Christmas these beads are a bright cheerful cranberry red/orange. The spacers are encased in clear for added depth. The focal beads are cranberry, encased in clear with stripes and dots in red and white layered over the clear. Yummy holiday beads!

Simply Gorgeous Collection!

This collection has a set of my beads in it but I think I would post it even if it didn't, its just a completely stunning piece of art! Click on the link to see the full collection!

Not Just for Halloween

Curated By: Sparks

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Photography