Handmade notecards and tags

I've gone a little card crazy lately; adding quite a few notecards to the shop. I'm putting them in The Perfect Jewel 4U. Here's a sampling:

Wedding Banner With Many Layers and Options

So -- daughter Holly needed a banner for her friend's wedding, and I offered to make one. Many trips to the craft store later -- here's what I came up with.

It says Alicia's bridal bash, but I realized I have a bunch of ways to do letters, really, so it could say anything you could dream up. The crown and ring (left end and 3rd) are popped out with pop dots for a 3-D effect, and everything is all blinged up with glitter, flowers, and tulle/ribbon. All in all I was happy with it ANNNND I have decided to start selling them in my etsy shop.

You could pick your own colors -- this one's chocolate and blue with some pink. The cool thing is there are matching crowns, rings, lingerie, and boxes to match, in bigger sizes so that you can use them for centerpieces. Since I was flying, I cut them out but gave them to Holly and said "You're an engineer. Figure out how to assemble them."

Here are some close-up shots:

What I am Thankful For

Another blog I just read suggested posting what we're thankful for on Sundays!

 Today I am thankful that I've been able to "play" (use my cricut and make some tags for my daughter, who's throwing a bridal shower).






And I couldn't resist making a card, with a matching envelope:

I am thankful for my dogs --That's the oldest one in here at my feet chilling right now. :)
 the 2 older ones are 10 and nearly 13….   Getting older but still getting around.

 I'm thankful for family, friends, and that God uses me occasionally for tasks. I feel like He is testing me & my husband both right now -- may He find us both as faithful as He wants us to be. What are you thankful for?

What I've been doing lately...

I have 3 projects I've been working on. One is an onyx piece that I"ve beaded around and now I'm making a necklace for it. I want this one to be a little different from my others so it's taking awhile. I also have an agate teardrop that I beaded around but haven't put the fringe on yet. You will see those in a few days. Then I got this book: It is so awesome. If you've read my posts, you know how I love beading beads. So I've done 2 so far. The first one looked like a blob. The 2nd was a little rounder but it seems....twisted at the ends or something. The book is wonderful, the instructions are clear. It's just operator error and NO you don't get to see them.

 In the interest of being more transparent (less private), I wanted to share my new Planted Tank blog with you. It's all about my aquarium. If you've never seen a planted tank you should google them. They're awesome and inspire all sorts of creativity.

I'm listening to the Beatles today. I downloaded their album "1." Very cool. What's even more fun? I know all the words. :)

Wordless Wednesday

I bought a "cave" for the DOG. Dog, dog, dog. Here is the CAT in it, daring the dog (the white furry blob) to try to come in.

What's new in the studio

This handmade beadwoven and gemstone necklace is my newest piece. I used agate and rose quartz first, weaving frames around them in colors that set off the stones. Then I created a necklace from seed beads and pearls, Czech glass beads, and more. When it was nearly done, I stitched the agate and quartz pieces into the piece. I then wove many more rows to hold them into the design. Fun! :D

It's for sale in my Ruby Plaza shop. Thanks for looking.

Giving Away a Handmade Beaded Bracelet

Wow. My Facebook page is up to 100 fans. I'm thrilled!!!  I am going to give away a bracelet to celebrate. Not just any bracelet either - I wanted to pick a special one. This is a brand new bracelet. It hasn't been for sale in the online shop....I just got it made.  Because it's the holidays and I want to give everyone time to get in on the game, I'll keep this open for one week. Next Thursday is the drawing; here's what you need to do. Visit my shop's Facebook page and make a comment under the post about the giveaway. I'll use a random number generator to pick the post that wins.

Here's the bracelet:

It is made from Swarovski crystals in 2 shades -- green and clear. Thesilver-plated pewter clasp and the focal flower both have tiny crystals on them too. Please visit my page and enter the contest! :)