Wonderful handmade Books

Another great Etsy find! Check out this wonderful book! These are made by a gal in Atlanta and here is a blurb from her profile: "I have been sewing, drawing, and painting ever since I was a little girl spending summers with my grandmother in Indiana. She instilled in me a love of the handmade, passing on quilts, as well as stories, of the beautiful clothes her mother, my great grandmother, had made. I cherish these stories and items, they have largely shaped my life and interests." You can check out all her wonderful handcrafted items and read more about her in her profile at http://www.indianablue.etsy.com/ These little books are a great size for recipes, journaling on the go and plenty more, just the beauty of them will inspire you!

Take me out to the ball game!

Here is something Red Sox and Yankee fans can agree on. This is the perfect bag for all those weekend activities; ball games, picnics, shopping. This is a great size for our latest knitting adventure. I love to have one packed with a project I am knitting to take with me in the car wherever I am going. It is made by Jennifer VanKlingeren from Ohio. This delightful and practical bag can be seen and/or purchased at http://www.CreativeJenV.etsy.com She has a wide variety of color schemes, styles and sizes available. Pick one up and head out!

HANDCRAFTED SHELL and PEARL NECKLACE

I have had my 5 year old twin granddaughters this week which does not give me a lot of time for much of anything. I have managed to get this piece done. It is made with a gorgeous lampwork shell bead by (you guessed it) Generations Lampwork. Surrounding the shell are an abundance of genuine pearls, and lots of Crazy Lace Agate and sterling silver. the earrings have actual shells with pearls and Crazy Lace with all sterling findings. As always you can get more info on this piece and others by clicking on http://www.divelladelights.etsy.com Gotta run, the girls are calling...Graaaaaannnnnnyyyy.

Felted handbags and ID Lanyards

This was supposed to be the first bag for my Fall series but it has already sold and not even lined yet. I hope I can figure out how I made it as it came out really cute. My sweetie keeps telling me I have to write down what I do in case I really like it. I guess he is right (shhh). It is made of high quality 100% Peruvian highland wool, hand knit then felted, same with the flower. I am felting them much thicker this year so they keep shape much better. I have also bought some roving to begin some different needle felting designs I have had in my head, they need to get out! I am making ID lanyards for the local VA this week as well so I am keeping very busy and waiting for something to break.

Felted Accessories

Because I love artisans and I love Etsy I am doing a ittle diddy on different artisans I find on www.etsy.com where you can find just about everything you can imagine (and some things you could NEVER imagine). This sweet little felted hair accessory was done by Julie's Creation Nation and can be viewed and/or purchased at juliepersons.etsy.com. She makes a wide variety of felted objects including nursing dolls, hair accessories, tapestires and jewelry. This is no easy task either folks. It requires pain staking (at times literally) repeated poking thousands of times with a special barbed needle and wool. I love felted wool and make handbags and I am just begining to take this on and I can't tell you how many times I have stabbed myself! Julie does beautiful work, check out her shop!

French beading beginings

My daughter wanted my to bead some flowers for her so I began small and just did some leaves for this necklace. It's kind of fun. I think I will enjoy it in between my "real work". I did find some very useful tips and instructions, here are a couple of links : http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/bfbasic.html
http://www.crafts4everyone.com/crafts/needlecrafts/french_beaded_flowers/.
And of course because I love the folks on Etsy, here is a link to a shop I found that specializes in this technique http://www.foreverflowers.etsy.com/. She does gorgeous work, check it out!
I think this little center made this necklace really cute. When I put the clasp on it just looked to plain in the front so I added another flower and the leaves, just a little touch of something...what do you think? Does it work? I am off now to a new design, new adventure...I sure do love this work! I have a great set on sale in my Etsy shop at http://www.divelladelights.etsy.com/
Have a GREAT day!

Etsy favorite- Birthdesigns

You have to check out this shop for Mother's Day. We are actually having our wedding rings made by http://birthdesigns.etsy.com/ so we can have something made just for us. They have a lot of wonderful ideas and an ongoing contest for free jewelry! They have fabulous customer service...all around a great find!

OK so here is the fun little piece I did for the juried show at MPBN. It features 3 handmade lampwork beads by my favorite lampwork artist, Generations Lampwork found at http://www.generationslampwork.etsy.com/ It also has Opalite, Blue Quartz, Pearls, Rose Quartz, Aventurine, and Swarovski crystals. I called it Rendezvous on the Reef. Cute huh? Anyway I am honored to be placed in Gallery 5 in Lewiston, 8 newspapers and on MPBN. I donated the Yellow Jade set as well, a little more conservative and my usual design concept. I had a lot of fun with the fish piece and am glad it is a one of a kind design for them.

Juried Art Show

I MADE IT! One of my pieces was selected by a jury to be included in the MPBN 37th Annual Exhibit to be held at Gallery 5 in Lewiston to be followed by a live auction at Maine Maritime Museum on July 12th. I am very excited and honored to have my work chosen. They called nme toady in Boston to inform me so I cannot post a photo of the piece until Saturday when I return home.