Autumn Tree of Life Pendant Necklace

I created this tree of life pendant using sterling silver wire, seed and bugle beads, bicone crystals, and miscellaneous glass beads. The finished pendant is stunning and perfect for complimenting your fall outfit. This would make a really nice Christmas gift or a present for that special someone. It's available in my Etsy store.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16093774

Boo!

More Halloween items!

Well alrighty then......

Ok, so the October Fest was a bust! It rained the entire day and I thought surely they will cancel it, but they didn't. Only 12 of the crafters toughed it up and set up in the rain. I was going to turn around and head home but the promoter talked me in to staying and set up a tent for me to put my table under.

Although sales weren't fantastic, I sold more than I expected to, given the conditions. I was amazed anyone came out at all, but Priest River folks are used to knarly weather and it was an October Fest after all. People were walking around on the streets checking out the booths, with their cup of pumpkin ale and brats in hand.

In spite of the crap weather I did have a fantastic time. They put another artisan in the tent with me, Bill from Cusick. He made canes, walking sticks, and sling shots out of tree branches. Shortly after noon I headed off to the liquor store and got us some Bailey's and we sat around and chatted like two old friends. His girlfriend was a hoot! I traded Bill a magnetic bracelet for a walking stick for my Brother for Christmas. We exchanged cards so we could hook up again at other local craft fairs.

I love it when a bad day turns in to a positive one. I made new friends, made a little money, and met a lot of town folks.

And now it is almost time for Halloween so I am busy making up Halloween spiders and a beaded witch to sell here locally. I have a few of them listed at my Etsy store.
They really are prettier than they look in the photographs! Perfect for gift giving. :)

Ok.... back to creating! Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!

First Ever! Priest River October Fest!!!!

Priest River, ID is having it's first ever October Fest. This gala event is happening on Saturday, October 4th on Main Street. There will be live entertainment, craft and food booth, beer and wine tasting.... oh boy! I have a booth reserved for the event so if you live nearby, come stop in and say hi.

I have been making up all kinds of things to sell.... jewelry, Christmas ornaments, snuggle bears, dream pillows, soy wax candles and melts and hand painted wolf and husky soaps. Today I went to our second hand store and got some neat containers to put the soaps in. It kind of dresses them up a bit and also helps to protect them.

Here is my finished soap project.

I will take pictures of the October Fest and post them afterwards, so check back and see how well we did and what kind of turn out we had. So far no one seems to know anything about it so I am making sure I spread the word. I don't think they are advertising it very well, although it was in the past two weeks newspaper, (our news is published once a week.) They should have flyers up all over town but so far I haven't seen a one. :(

Anyway, wish me luck!

Ciao,
LV

Bracelets Galore!

This past month I have been so fortunate to come across some exceptionally beautiful semiprecious gemstones. I made a couple of bracelet sets, but mostly I have been making custom orders for my High Quality Magnetic Bracelets. Here are just a few.
I am making them out of Turquoise, Fancy Jades, Mookaite, Jaspers, and Blue Opal. I love the colorful hard to come by stones. I am making some up ahead of time for our winter craft fairs. I am not waiting until the last minute this year.

These should really be good sellers here locally.

Oooooh look at those wonderful stones!

Hi everyone. It's been a busy and productive month for me. Besides keeping up with the website, two Etsy stores and the huskies, I have been getting lots of customer jewelry orders.

One in particular was a request for a Topaz set. The gal had a general idea of what she wanted to get for her teenage Daughter for her Birthday. Here is the finished piece. It really did turn out nice.

Jack the Needle Felt Raccoon

I had a request to make a needle felt raccoon for Amanda at AWBAR, A Wild Baby Animal Rescue, http://www.awbar.com/. AWBAR lost 14 of it's baby raccoons to the deadly Parvo virus before getting the virus controlled. I was making some commemorative polymer clay picture pendants and pins of the babies who succumbed from the virus. One of my favorite pictures was of Jack and Sophia. I used the picture of Jack when I made this needle felt raccoon.

I am a member of Team AWBAR and donate a portion of my Etsy sales to help the wild babies.

Any items that I have listed that have EFA - AWBAR in the title, have donations to help animals.

http://lvsbeadsnthings.etsy.com/

You can also buy items from the AWBAR store. 100% of these purchases goes to help buy food, medications, toys, blankets and cages for the wild babies that are brought to the wild baby animal rescue. http://awbar.etsy.com/

Hatchling Dragon

I had so much fun making Steve's dragon, that I just had to make a wee-one! This little dragon is just hatching out of the egg. This one will be hard to part with as I have gotten pretty attached. It is hanging out by my computer and keeps me company while I am computing.

Green Eyed Monster

This is the green eyed monster, Steven's Dragon. Steven has always loved Dragon's ever since he was small. At the age of 17, one day he asked, "Mom, can you tattoo a dragon on my arm? He now has 3 dragons and is going for full sleeves. He also has one on his back. He loved his dragons so much he showed them off to all of his friends. Before long I was doing tats and dragons on everyone he knew.

He grew up (has a Son of his own) and he eventually outgrew Mom's tattoo's, .... but evenso, one thing he has never outgrown is Mom's magical dragons.

To my loving Son, this bud's for you! XOXO'S

Now we're talking beads... lots of beads

If you ever want to test your patience, try making a project out of seed beads. Although beautiful, little, teeny, tiny beads, they are not easy to work with. Even so, many beading enthusiasts just love working with seed beads. Why you ask? The completed creations are just beautiful and like no other.

Here is a beaded amulet bag that I recently finished. This bag took me over 25 hours to make (including the matching earrings.) I used almost an entire hank of the dark colored rainbow beads. By the time I added the contrasting beads I probably did use that amount. You do have to admit, now that IS a LOT of beads!

Penguin Power - Polymer Clay Sculptures

I thank God that I am diverse in my creations. I never tire of crafting this way. Each form of craft is relaxing and rewarding to me. All of it an art form. My latest niche has been polymer clay sculptures. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE all animals, large and smalll, winged, finned, hoofed, furred, scaled.... lol. I think you get the picture.

One of my all time favorites is penguins! I have loved penguins since the first time that I saw them at the zoo. There are right up there with otters. Both are playful and fun little creatures that I could sit and watch for hours.

When I woke up this morning to rain my first thought was today is a good day to create. Here is my completed rainy day project.