Advent Blog-a-long Day 17 EART Team Blog Ring

This week on the EART Team blog ring we were asked to share some of our favorite Etsy stores!

First off, I'd like to share pickleberries. She works with glass like me! Honestly, I can appreciate when another glass artist makes something beautiful, but it is hard for me to buy or trade for a glass. Lonnie is one of those artisans that I can not only appreciate her pieces, but I needed to own! She has created a niche and makes beautiful millefiori glass pieces!

Next, I'd like to show you Inner Earth Soaps! All her soaps are all mild and highly moisturising, made with skin-loving oils and have a creamy, bubbly lather. My son suffers from eczema especially in the winter months and she was very helpful in choosing a soap that will help keep his skin healthy. Also, her soaps just LOOK amazing!

And last, but not least is lime green modern! I absolutely LOVE the simple lines of her pieces! When it comes to jewelry, particularly earrings, I tend to stick tot he more-is-less approach. I love the sleek look of these earrings with just a pop of color! You could have one in every color and be set for any outfit!

Please follow our blog ring around! Next up is DivaDea ( http://divadea.blogspot.com ). Check out some of her favorite Etsy shops!

Missie Krissie has a Giveaway!

Oooo! Oooo! Oooo! I'm so excited and hope to win something! Missie Krissie has a giveaway of some beautiful silver jewelry pieces over several days! Check it out and blog to enter!

Blog-a-long Day 15 2009 Winter Charm Swap

This year I participated in a Winter Charm Swap hosted by Altered Beauty. The only stipulation was that it had to be hangable. So, I made 10 of little glass charms with a cute little holly on them, tied them to a few business cards, and sent them off!
Well, today I got all my charms! Yay! There are some really cute ones in here! Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to make with all of them!
Here's a list of everything that all came in that cute snowman bag with the candy canes and blue plastic snowflakes tied up with the big blue jingle bell!

-my glass holly charm from Beautiful Schlopp
-a big red ornament charm with an angel on it from Faerie Dust Dreams
-a cute square glass charm with a snowflake on it and glitter all over the side in an adorable gift box from Mahala's Place
-an adorable red heart charm AND a ice bottle charm from Altered Beauty
-a sweet little Santa resin charm from Scrappy Rat Designs
-an elegant charm of a red bow, white pearl, and green crystal from Che Che Couture
-a beautiful beaded snowflake charm from Beading by Bawissa
-a cute little Christmas tree charm with a green bead Susan Williams Designs
-an adorable pinwheel mint charm from Crafted by Design

Advent Blog-a-long Day 14

Today I wanted to share some of the fun I had with the kids last night. It was warm enough to go outside.






The snow was perfect for making a snowman. Here are the kids with Snowy the snowman!






Then we came inside to warm up and had hot cocoa and candy canes!












Oh! And here's our tree that we decorated the other night!

Advent Blog-a-long Day 13

I think today is the day to take a clue from some of my fellow artisans and blog some blatent self promotion! Currently I have a Holiday Sale going on in my Etsy shop. I am offering 10% off any order over $10!

Get your gifts now and save!

Due to high demand, these Cherry Blossom pieces are made to order, but they are still available before Christmas!All pieces come in a cute organza bag! And ship for FREE!

Advent Blog-a-long Day 12

Today was a fun day. I went in to work early to do the books, then headed to my hair stylist's salon. She did some color because my roots were VERY grown out. She's been doing my hair for years, but only now just realized how quickly my hair actually grows! After doing the color, I picked up the kids and Mark to bring them to the salon also. We ALL got our hair trimmed! We wanted to get us all looking nice for the holidays and I think we may try to get a family portrait taken (no pics of our hair until the reveal in our portrait!).

When I got home I was greeted by a few packages. Now, there are some things I am expecting, but this wasn't one of them. It was my first package from an Art Exchange I participated in. It was like a crafty chain letter of sorts. "Make one piece and send it to #1, then remove that name and bump the names up and add yours to the bottom of the list" type thing. I kinda forgot about it until I opened that package yesterday. I got 2 cute flower/ribbon clips for hair, clipping on purses, collars, etc! They're adorable! I like the smaller flower one for me, but I think the pink and brown ribbon one has been claimed by my daughter.


(This is her angry face. She was not pleased that I wouldn't get her some chocolate milk until I took a picture.)


After taking that picture, my 5 year old son NEEDED his picture taken too. Here he is after dragging himself into the kitchen. He claimed that this was a picture of him 'starving'.

After they both got chocolate milk, we tried to put lights on our tree. Daddy and I got them all strung only to realize that the only strand we DIDN'T check was the strand on our tree and the strand that didn't light. We ended up eating dinner (homemade lasagna! Mmmmmm!!!) and giving it another try. We got the lights up and the kids had a blast helping hang ornaments.

All in all- a good day! Hair done, packages, delicious food, and a decorated tree!

Blog-a-long Day 11- Friday's EART Team Featured Artist

Today we're ogling over the gorgeous beaded work of Enchanted Beads.

Ileana, whose work has been featured in many publications, creates the most amazing things out of beads! --from perfume bottles, to earrings, to trinket boxes! Her work is meticulous, her colors are beautiful, and her creativity shows through in everything she makes!

Here's a selection of her work for your instant enjoyment, but be sure to pop in to her Etsy shop to see more stunning pieces!

EnchantedBeads