Lets Talk About Body Sprays

I am going to let you all in on a little secret.  I LOVE handmade soap, bath and beauty products, etc.  Okay, I love them all, and am not adverse to buying from bath and body shops but I really prefer to buy handmade.  That way I know what's in it, and many of the handmade items are far healthier for you than the commercially prepared stuff.  Of course, I like that fact that I am supporting an independent handmade artisan as well. Especially since I am one lol.

I received a body spray from Botanicals For Beauty and I will say that I am impressed! (not an easy feat truth be told, I am kind of picky!).  I will say I know Laura, the owner, and I know that she has put a ton of time and energy into researching all aspects of her products, as well as a lot of time testing them out before she offers them for sale.    Can I just say I love the spray!  Its silky, smells awesome (not too strong, but strong enough that I can smell it lol) and it lasts all day.   I got the Amber Romance (type) because that is generally the types of scent that I really like ( I am an earthy, musky, with a touch of flower kind of girl lol). Oh and did I mention that her prices are really reasonable?  So if you are looking for something that is natural to treat yourself with go visit her shop and have a look around!  She has lots of different beauty products to choose from and some great scents!

OceansBluePhotography

My husband has opened a shop for his photography.  His prints (up to 8x10's) are for sale on
OceansBluePhotography.com .  He will be selling postcards and various other items with his photos on them at zazzle.com/oceansblue.

Here are some samples of his work.

Stop by and have a look!  We will be adding a lot more to both sites so visit often.  The Zazzle shop is brand new and so bare with us as we add product as fast as we can!

Super Duo Two Hole Seed Beads!

These are Super Duo!  Love, love, love this color as well!  You can find these HERE.

Oh my gosh!  For you bead weavers out there have you seen the new super duo's and the super cool designs they are being used to make? The new issue of Bead & Button Magazine has several very cool designs using these beads and I can't wait to try them out!   I just got my first order of these beads from RoyalMetals.   Holly has really good quality beads and she ships super fast as well.  She also has a killer selection of Picasso glass beads as well as sterling silver, copper and gold filled findings.  Great prices and I have never been disappointed by anything I have bought from her.  So go, check out her shop and make sure you have something handy to mop up the drool with lol.

Holly's prices are some of the best short of wholesale and again, her quality and customer service is fantastic.

These are one of the Picasso beads.  They come in a wide variety of fantastic color combos.  I happen to have a lot these lol.  You can find these HERE.

 

 And these are sampling of the stones she carries.  This is Angelite and its just stunning!

You can find this one HERE.

from my friend Holly's shop

Silver River Glass

I have been working on moving as much of my stuff to my own website as I can.  I have a huge amount of inventory in both my jewelry and my glass shops.  Its almost impossible for me to pay the fees to list all of my inventory on a venue not to mention I dislike the fact the they can shut your shop down for no reason, or for voicing an opinion that does not toe the party line.  And we won't even go into the whole reseller's who pretend their stuff is handmade thing.

So, I have a website for my jewelry at www.silverriverjewelry.com.  And I have a website for my lampwork beads at www.silverriverglass.com.  If you want to have a look and let me know what you think, what you like, what you don't like etc. I would love to hear from you.  They are always a work in progress, and the glass shop is only a couple of days old, I still need to add my shipping and policies page but those will be up in the next day or so.

Purple and Ivory Glass Lampwork Beads

I have two sets of these up for sale.  One of the things I love the most about working with glass is that you never know what is going to happen, between the chemistry of the flame, and the chemistry of the glass!  This particular set of beads, the purple is reacting with the ivory, causing a thin black line between the two.  You can find these beads on Etsy here,  and on
Artfire here

I have added several new metal and stone rings to my shop.  This one is made from Ohio Flint that I dug out of the quarry myself and finished.  This is a large ring, a 10 1/2 and would make a wonderful gift for Father's Day!  You can find it on my website.  Definitely one of a kind!

Subtle Elegance With a Touch of Sparkle!

This beadwoven bracelet was stitched with a needle and thread, in a specific pattern.  I used beautiful Swarovski crystals to give it some sparkle, while the overall look is quite elegant.  Its not a large, flashy kind of bracelet, its more of a subtle elegance although the Swarovski crystals do give it some flash!  You can find this bracelet on my website SilverRiverJewelry.

Copper Etched Earrings

This pair of earrings started life as a piece of copper sheet metal and were hand cut into the shape of teardrops, then a design was hand drawn onto them and etched into the metal.

On Etsy

Extra Large Glass Lampwork Lentil Bead Rainbow Mist

This one is extra extra large and shimmers with pale rainbow colors.  When you hold it in the light it glows with golden colors.  This one is available in both my Etsy shop and my Artfire shop.

Sterling Silver Headpins with Lampwork Glass Beads

Something a little bit different today. These are sterling silver headpins that have pale sky blue streaky glass on the ends.  Finish of a piece of jewelry seamlessly with these headpins! You can find this particular set of headpins in my Etsy glass shop.

Gorgeous Set of Summer Lampwork!

I have lampwork beads for you today!  This stunning set of lime green and white glass lampwork beads are perfect for summer designs.  They bring to mind bright summer flowers, icy tropical drinks,  long days on the beach in the sun!  I only have one set of these which you can purchase here.  If you prefer to shop on Etsy you can follow this link instead.

Great Summer Earrings!

These long, chandelier earrings have a ton of movement and sparkle.  Perfect for a night out at the beach!

You can find them here in my Etsy shop.

Orange Carnelian and Moonstone Necklace

This one is currently for sale on Etsy!  Great sterling silver necklace with orange carnelian coins and stunning faceted Carnelian drop.  Paired with moonstone rounds and ceramic coins.

Purple Lampwork Glass Earrings Artisan Made

The purple bumpy dot beads are hollow and were made in my home studio.  One of my goals as a jewelry designer has always been to be able to make as many of the components of my jewelry myself, making my jewelry both handmade and one of kind.  In the process I have learned many different techniques, including making lampwork glass beads.  You can find this pair of earrings on my website. 

Earrings and a Necklace

 Picture Jasper, Orange Carnelian, White Cat's Eye and Purple Glass Drops.  Elegant, earthy and suitable for any occasion!  Available on my website.

Delicate wire wrapped hearts with pale pink and silver beads.  Also available on my website.

Gold and Blue Heart Stitchmarkers

Available in my Etsy Shop

Drake

Happy Cat!

Stitch Markers for Knitters

Set of six stitchnmarkers to help keep track of patterns in the round, or any patterns that require complicated stitch changes.  These are green jasper coin beads and light weight aluminum rings.  You can find these in my stitch marker shop of Etsy.

Dark Rose Transparent Pink Beads

New beads today in a pretty dark transparent rose pink.  You can find these beads on Etsy and Artfire so you can shop wherever you feel the most comfortable.  I have two of these sets available at the moment.

Can you find the cat in this picture?

Just had to share.  I wouldn't let him on my lap and I wouldn't let him on the lap top, and right now, my desk is far too messy with works in progress for him to lay on my jewelry making spot.  This was the only spot he could find lol.

Blog Hop!

I am going to give this a try, it sounds like fun and I have seen some great blogs while doing this  Hop in and give it a try!

My Glass Stash

I'm almost embarrassed to say that this is just a portion of my glass stash.  This particular rack has 104 coe Effetre Moretti, Vetrofond and Cim and are organized (kind of) by color family.  I have three more shelves of glass, one that has boro and 90 coe, one shelf that has 104 coe Devardi glass, and one that has odds and ends and the silver and specialty glasses.  Honestly, I could look at my glass all day long lol.  It truly is just a fun medium to work in and the color ranges are incredible.

German Braided Sweet Bread

I finally had a chance to make my mother's German braided sweet bread!  I'm so excited lol.  I haven't really had a decent mixer for some years and now that I have a really good one, I am able to start doing some more baking.  This recipe is particularly time consuming as its a recipe that requires three rounds of the yeast dough rising.  So, its easily a three or four hour project at a minimum.  Usually, my sister makes this for Christmas and we all get to have some then, but we never seem to have it any other time of the year.  I have a feeling that is about to change lol!

Ohio Flint Sterling Silver Ring

I just love Ohio Flint.  It has such a wide range of colors and some of it has beautiful druzy crystals.  This is a large ring and very suitable for either guys or gals.  Its a 10 1/2 and a fairly large stone.  As always, click on the picture to go to this listing.

Speaking of Work Spaces

Speaking of work spaces, this is my metal smithing space in the basement.  (as opposed to the beading space upstairs).  This one stays relatively clean, mostly because, well, I am playing with fire lol, and I being too messy is not a wise thing around an open flame.  But anyway, this is where the metal work gets done,  the stones are paired to with the metal, the metal is cut out and etched or pounded or stamped and tumbled etc. I am fortunate that my husband doesn't mind the fact that I have taken over at least half of the basement.  I will post a pictures of the space I use to make glass beads in another post.  Also locate in the basement.  The nice thing about working in the basement is that I also get a lot of laundry done lol.