Orange Oak Leaf

I had the pleasure of creating this bracelet for my first ArtBeads.com Design Partners piece.

What that means is that I got to choose beads from ArtBeads extensive collection, free of charge. You would think this was easy but they have SO many things to pick from.
I knew I wanted to make a wire wrapped bracelet as I am on a bracelet kick these days. I knew I wanted a little charm to dangle from the bracelet and I knew I wanted a fall theme because Thanksgiving was coming and fall is my favorite time of year.

I went through the website for days picking just the right elements for my design and here are the items I chose:
A Sterling and Resin 10mm pendant, 
Carved Wood Round 10mm,
Olive Jade Rounds 4mm,
Sterling Silver Corrugated Round Bead 6mm,
16x12mm Brown Tiger's eye Oval Strand,
6mm Indian Silver Star Spacer,
6mm Sterling Silver Flared Star Bead Caps,
Red Adventurine Roundel Strand,
8mm Crystal Copper Swarovski Crystals,
and my favorite piece of all - Sterling Silver 8 Petaled Flower Bead Cap.
I have given you direct links to each item I used or you can just visit ArtBeads.com and search around.

I decided to make the bracelet 2 strands and I wire wrapped each bead segment, I used the sterling silver corrugated bead to make the loop for the clasp, which I hand forged. I added a couple of beads from my stash to finish the bracelet. The Red Adventurine were the perfect orange but not too orange color. I bent the bead caps around the Tiger's Eye flat oval bead, which worked out really great, love it!
I am thrilled with how this came out. I wish you could see the resin charm in person - it is delicious. The resin is perfect and clear, it gives a slight magnification effect to the leaf design.  I chose to do a mix of Vintaj and Sterling Silver elements because I just love the antique bronze wire with silver, it makes the silver really pop.

I loved Artbeads.com packaging, each item was in it's own labeled ziptop baggie. I liked that because I don't always get to label my items right away and now I won't have to because it says on it what the item is, the size and where it came from. 

Thanks for checking out my blog today, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have a wonderful weekend! ~Shannon

Some Necessary Legal Stuff: I received these products free of charge from Artbeads.com and I have been asked to honestly review them ...positive or negative.  I am not being compensated by Artbeads.com for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed. The products I received free of charge: Sterling and Resin 10mm Pendant, Carved Wood Round 10mm, Olive Jade Rounds 4mm, Sterling Silver Corrugated Round Bead 6mm, 16x12mm Brown Tiger's Eye Oval Strand, 6mm Indian Silver Star Spacer, 6mm Sterling Silver Flared Star Bead Caps, Red Adventurine Roundel Strand, 8mm Crystal Copper Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver 8 Petaled Flower Bead Cap.

Monday

It's Monday night 8:50 pm to be exact and The Girl is asleep, hubby is watching tv and I am on the computer. A typical American Monday night I suppose.
I just wanted to shoot off a blog post because I had such a great weekend with The Girl I don't want to forget how great it really was.

She is getting so big and independent it is really amazing. I want her to be a baby for a while longer but in some was I guess she still is. She still cries when you tell her no and she still wants her blankie when she goes nigh, nigh.
I have been trying to soak up as much of the fall weather as I can so we have been going outside to play every afternoon. The Girl can climb up the stairs to the slide all by herself now. I even asked if she needed help and she said no! She picked me a dandelion bouquet, my very first of what I hope is many. I don't have a photo because she and the dog ate them, lol. No really I took them away before they ate them all but there was tasting by both of them.
-She told me today that she needed to be changed and ran to her room when I told her to.
-She now has all 4 molars and all 8 front teeth. Poor Girl is going to need braces because she has my flared out top teeth and her dad's crooked squished bottom teeth.
-She hugs me for no reason and I love every second of it.
-She calls for me when she wakes up.
-She woke up very happy from her nap this afternoon, a big change.
-She watched the entire Tinkerbell movie this morning, sitting on my lap cuddling.
I can't imagine life getting any better than it was today, today was pretty perfect!

Bead Stash

I have been holding on to a few (okay a lot) of pieces from Nancy over at Round Rabbit.
I love Nancy's pieces and have a difficult time parting with them.
Someone had me put this necklace on hold for a Christmas present:

Today I made this necklace using a piece I purchased over the summer I believe. I know I have had it a while because I bought it when Nancy was on Etsy and now she sells on Big Cartel.
I love how this necklace came out. Very simple, which is perfect for my style. It has Vintaj (my favorite) and a Green Girls owl (another favorite). The necklace is also nice and long which is great because it is NY and the sweaters are out of the closet adding bulk. Halloween candy is helping add bulk too, glad it's almost gone, lol.

Now to tell something funny about The Girl. Today I put her dinner plate in front of her, we were having broccoli, backed sweet potatoes and baked chicken. Guess what she ate first? The Broccoli! I could not believe it. I loved, no craved, broccoli when I was pregnant. The other funny thing she does is as soon as she wakes up it push her hair out of her eyes and asks for a bow. The Girl has had long hair since the day she was born so I have pretty much always put bows in it. I was always shocked she left them in but I am blown away that the actually likes them. Have you seen my logo? It is the 2 birds, 1 has a bow in her hair :-)

Have a great weekend,
ShannonC

Working Artist

‎"The working artist will not tolerate trouble in her life because she
knows trouble prevents her from doing her work. The working artist
banishes from her world all sources of trouble. She harnesses the urge
for trouble and transforms it in her work."
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Shannon LeVart of Missficklemedia posted this quote on her facebook page this evening and it really hit home with me. I am always saying that stress zaps my creativity. I find that when I harp on the bad things-lack of money, bills piling up, my still unfinished kitchen, I am unable to make anything. It is almost like when I worry about things that negative thought takes over my brain and I am unable to think of anything else.

 

I have always tried to be positive even in difficult situations but now it is even more important for me to be positive. It is my job to be positive. You see I make jewelry and if I am not making any jewelry I have nothing to sell, if I have nothing to sell I won't make any money. If I am not positive at the salon I will push away my clients and then I won't make any money. Without positive thinking I would be out of a job and make worse the initial negative thoughts.

Sounds so easy doesn't it? I know you are thinking duh. Well it isn't easy to be positive all the time. I had a fight with my sister the other day, wham bad day. I had a fight with my husband because of the fight with my sister, wham 2 bad days. I was green with envy over someone's home, bad day. The list goes on and on but I am not going to dwell on that.

I am going to try and be positive and be thankful for the things I have, a healthy daughter, a home, a job, creativity, a loving husband, 4 housebroken dogs, parents who help without us even needing to ask, food, beads.

How could you not be happy with that bundle of cuteness running around, right?

Mommy's Helper

Just a quick post for today.
I have been super busy at the salon, which is a wonderful thing. I feel the week goes faster when I am busy. I did enjoy a really slow week two weeks ago but it is nice to get back to my normal pace.
I am trying to get ready for some upcoming home jewelry shows and some craft fairs.

Heart charm from Round Rabbit Extra

We are still fighting fleas so if anyone knows how to get rid of them once and for all please let me know. I have 4 dogs and a cat so this has been a bit of an uphill battle.

I went to vote tonight, it was my first time voting and I had no clue where to go. That made it scary and I almost didn't go but as a client/friend of mine said you have no right to say anything if you didn't vote. Thanks Mar. :-) It wasn't that bad once I figured out where I was supposed to be. I went to 3 different places before finding where I was supposed to go.
I thought this picture of my daughter was so cute, she was helping me bead one afternoon, I tried to give her the biggest beads I could find so she wouldn't choke. It is so much fun to see her personality really starting to emerge. She is a very sweet little girl who loves giving kisses, animals and books.

I hope you all have a great week, welcome November! I cannot believe you are here already!!!

Shannon

Simple Beauty

I am going to call this post simple beauty because I believe you don't need to have a lot going on to be beautiful. Sometimes too much going on will detract from one's beauty.
I was in a store the other day and the owner had a ton of makeup on, piles of bracelets and he hair was teased as high as it could go. It was difficult to take her seriously and she was very sweet but she just looked silly.
I wanted to share with you a package that came in the mail today.

It is so perfectly beautiful and yet very simply wrapped. I have never received an item I ordered packaged with such care and attention to detail. 
When I pulled the box open, squealing with glee I discovered the most lovely perfectly packaged beads. Each bead had it's own wrapper, business card and a description card tied to the bead itself.
This was the box of goodies from Mary Harding of maryhardingjewelry.com. 

I won a toggle clasp and $25.00 GC from Mary during the Beads of Clay Open House.
My husband and I spent hours, okay I spent hours he spent minutes, trying to pick beads from her etsy store. It wasn't that I couldn't pick it was that I wanted one of everything and we have a very limited budget for beads right now.
I chose these:
Dill Seed Heart Pendant

From maryhardingjewelry

 

Cluster Daisy Heart Pendant

From maryhardingjewelry

Wild Harvest Pendant in Blues

From maryhardingjewelry

Toggle Clasp Bown Sea Urchin Texture

From maryhardingjewelry

Aren't they lovely! I am so excited to play with these beads, it is just going to take me a while to open the absolutely perfect packaging!