aKimberlyDesigns Rides the Crazy Train!

aKimberlyDesigns has some absolutely gorgeous artwork! She also has beautiful jewelry and she has awesome little purses! Check her out :)

Read more about her on her Artists Bio.

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JewelryByJoy Rides the Crazy Train

Take a look at the beautiful jewelry below! JewelryByJoy really has some talent. That wire wrapping is so stunning! Check out her shop!

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HeatherDesigns Rides the Crazy Train!

HeatherDesigns is a great studio, full of handmade lampwork beads and jewelry. She also has ribbon and cording for your beads! This is one awesome shop, go ahead, visit her studio! Enjoy :)

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Andrea Designs Rides The Crazy Train

AndreaDesigns knits some awesome handmade scarves and shawls! And she has some really cool colored yarns! Take a peek and go visit her shop and take advantage of her Christmas in July Sale!! This lovely summer isn't going to last forever!

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One Great Giveaway

Don't miss this great giveaway by GemsByJerri. I was just visiting her shop and bought myself some great little packs of gemstones! Can't wait to make some cute little necklace and bracelets with some of these beauties. Amestyst, Jade, and Moukaite Jasper are just a few of what I bought.

Now don't forget to got to GemsByJerri's blog and find out how you can participate in her great giveaway! Here are a couple pics of some items you just might win!

Oh, and I wanted to show you my favorite item in her shop. Turquoise! LOVE IT. Okay, you ca stop drooling now!

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DanglesByDiane Rides the Crazy Train

DanglesByDiane has the cutest items, from baby booties, toddler girls skirts to awesome jewelry! Check her out...

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BeadLady5 Rides the Crazy Train!

I loved visiting BeadLady5's ArtFire shop! Her work is very vintage style, with other styles as well. She uses crystals, pearls, and lampwork. Her jewelry is wearable art! Below is just a sampling. Visit her studio for more awesome goodness!

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ExquisiteStudios Rides the Crazy Train!

I love wire work, jewelry, glass, and especially candle holders! Visit ExquisiteStudios for some great shopping!

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What shinanigans am I up to now?

I'm sitting at the computer reading, drinking coffee. Just relaxing before everyone else gets out of bed. It's my favorite time of day on the weekends. As I looked over at the scattering of supplies I thought, I wonder if any one else wonders what I'm up to?

Well, just in case you were wondering....

LampworkEtc.com is a great forum for lampworkers like me. Member's generosity is amazing there. They are so helpful, and love to share and teach. And Mr. Smiley shared an awesome tutorial on hearts. He started the thread back in 2005, and it's still going strong today!

So the other day I tried my hand at his hearts. He uses boro glass (very hard) and I use soft glass, so I wasn't too keen on the thin glass loop (see bottom left heart), so I tried some thicker loops. Not too keen on those either, too bulky and yucky looking! So someone else shared pics and they made the hearts right off the mandrel. I feel in LOVE! So above is a small sampling of my hearts in progress.

LampworkEtc also has a great promo thread from Amy at Zooziis where she shares her bead presses so we can try them. You get one press for ONE month, and when you are done you pass it on to the first lucky person to reply after you announce it's ready to move on. And I was waiting for The Crystal Chunky Duo! And I got it :) So yesterday morning I was able to squeeze in an hour or so and made a couple of these little beauties. I'm thinking they'll make great key chains, cell/flash drive/purse charms, or even pendants! And as this idea was bouncing around in my head, I realized I was out of bead bars :(

Of course, before I ever order anything I always think long and hard to determine if I really do need the supplies. And quite honestly, I've decided that I do need these. And I really want to tell you why.

I love these Bead Bars and their special components! You can see the huge difference in the bar versus a normal headpin. These bead bars are chunky and super sturdy, and are great for roughly handled items like key chains and purse charms. But are definitely stylish and beautiful on pendants as well. They have really turned out to be my favorite findings for working with lampwork and creating lampwork jewelry and accessories.

However, as you can imagine, they are not cheap! At almost $2.00 vs the $.20 for a plated headpin, you can see why I had to consider this purchase long and hard. And each cap and spacer is equally expensive for a silver plated component. But I think you will agree, they are really beautiful, functional, and in the end, well worth the cost!

Let me know what you think. I love hearing from you :)

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The look of the headpin vs the bead bar.
Headpins are great, you can use them with any findings. And I love using crystals!
The bead bar has a unique look of it's own. It's becoming my favorite.
And well worth the price, in my eyes.
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Here is a closer look at the bead bar and components, compared to the headpin.
The holes in the finding are large, and they are designed specifically for the bead bar.
And this is just a sampling of what is offered.

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Studio JRU Rides the Crazy Train!

This are is truly inspirational. I love the texture and colors. So relaxing! That's one of the great things about the Crazy Train...seeing shops that you may have missed or never even seen! I'm glad I have seen this one.

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One Lovely Blog Award, round 2

There are a lot of great blogs out there. I appreciate them all, and enjoy reading them. And I'd like to announce round 2 (there will be one more post with my last 10 candidates). My next 10 candidates for The One Lovely Blog Award...

So here are the rules for the One Lovely Blog Award

1. Accept the award
2. Post it on your blog together with the name of the person (or persons) who has granted the award, along with their blog link.
3. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. (And don't forget to contact them that they have been chosen for this award.)

20. ColtPixy
19. Silver River Jewelry
18. EmilyClaire Creations
17. Island Girl's Insights
16. Haffina Creations
15. 2 Sisters 4 Art
14. Creative With Clay
13. Far North Creations
12. The Pet Boutique Blog
11. RainWolf Studios

It's really hard to choose from all the wonderful blogs out there! It really is. And I'd like to thank you all for your inspiration and information! Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

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Important news! And a winner too!

Yep, it's true, I have important news, so PAY ATTENTION!! Okay, that's better.

If you take a gander down the right side bar there, you may or may not notice something missing. Go ahead, take peek, see if you can figure out what it is.

I'm sure most of you can, but for those who can't, I'll just tell you. Ahem *clears throat*.

It is with great happiness that I announce that I have completely removed all my items from Etsy and will no longer be using them as my selling venue. There are numerous reasons, from messing with our SEOs, to closing threads that are asking WHY, to muting members and closing their shops down with no explanation. As far as I'm concerned that's not very American at all.

And so, with that I've closed my poll which, by the way, was 5 for Etys, and a whopping 17 for ARTFIRE!! Woohoo!!

And now, the lucky winner form the comments of this post. Drum Roll PLEASE ! brrrrrrrr


The winner is...Silver River Jewelry! Yay!! You can find Silver River Jewelry on ArtFire. So go check out her awesome stuff. Go...now!! Wait, see what she chose for her prize first, then you can go! lol

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