Chalkboard Fun Video

I showed my husband this post from Room Remix and he was all for the idea of a Hallway Command Center.
This shocked me because my husband is not 1 to a) like change and b) do anything quickly. I was very surprised when 2 days later I got my very own shelf and chalkboard hallway command center. He even went to the supermarket and bought a pack of giant chalk. I need to put my own spin on it though and I am making my hooks from vintage spoons which I am going to stamp with our names. I think I am going to add 1 extra in case we are blessed with another child and if not I will use that hook for guests or extra items.  This is still a work in progress, as is most of my house, but I am thrilled with the results so far and it is right across from the fridge (that's the silver thing in the bottom left of the picture) so I can keep an eye on The Girl from the kitchen so it's pretty awesome so far!
(that's hubby on the floor after a day of shoveling snow)

The video (I hope it works) is The Girl playing with her new chalkboard for the very first time. She loved it and has been having a blast with it. She is even getting her shapes down pat and we worked on her numbers tonight. She is making me look like a liar (my mom said we did that to her all the time) because she knows her numbers till you ask her to say them to others. haha

Don't forget to enter my giveaway ending January 7th!!! Click here
~Shannon

Shifting Ground Class

On December 21st I entered a contest on http://www.stephanielee.typepad.com/  the contest was for Micheal deMeng mini course that will demystify his paint techniques. Misty Mawn's workshop and a seat in her new "Stretching Within." Or "Shifting Ground" e-course by Stephanie Lee finding solid footing through journal writing.
I have set several goals for myself this year and a few of them include taking some more classes. I love to take classes especially those on new techniques so I really wanted to win one of these classes.
I know you are waiting to hear which class I won but I did not win. Nope I didn't win any of them I was bummed when I began to read Stephanie's post but then several paragraphs in I read these words

And because I can, I'm also giving away (randomly) seats in my Shifting Ground class to:
Everyone who commented.

I almost fell off my stool and sent an e-mail off to Stephanie right away because I thought I read it wrong. She responded quickly to my e-mail with a definite yes! She loved the comments everyone left for her on the giveaway post so she decided to give a seat in her course to everyone who left a comment. I am so excited because I really wanted to take this course and her Metalsmithing course (which she may not have till summer, I asked). I am also looking into a blogging course, we shall see.


The following words are from Stephanie reprinted here with her permission I just loved what she had to say so I wanted to share her words with you.

There were so many who want to give the gift of peace to loved ones and I want to say to you - inquire within. Look to what brings you peace and invite it in whole heartedly. BE the peace you want for those around you and your energy will inspire and encourage those who need it. Don't underestimate the power of your own light. If you are wandering around sad and discouraged about those around you, there is no optimistic or encouraging word you can say that will mask the energy which you hold. Not really. You can only lift others by being in a position to do the lifting and you cannot lift another by being as sad or sadder than they are.
If you wish for clear life direction for a loved one, find it for yourself and if and when you have it, live it. Be it. And affirm it in one another.
If you wish for grief to leave a loved one, send love. Send laughter. Send light. Be love. Be laughter. Be light. Affirm it in one another.
If you wish for the world to be at peace stop looking at the ways it is not. Look for the places that there is peace and fill the whole universe up with your gratitude for that peace. Don't fight for peace. Be the kind of person that can't help but BE peace and there will be no room for anything that isn't peace.
If you wish for all the hungry people of the world to be fed, feed yourself. Not only with good food that nourishes your body - that makes it the most useful, healthful it can be, but also love. Feed yourself with love and kindness and gratitude and you will find ways through that thinking to feed more hungry people what they need as well. There are not just those starving in their bodies. There are many, too many, who are hungry in spirit and without a single penny, without taking up a collection, you can feed every person you encounter who is hungry in this way. You can feed them with your light and your spirit and your kindness and your knowing...knowing...that this world is good and kind and plentiful.
Your heartache will ease in giving this, I promise. You are amazing and powerful in all of the most perfect ways.

"The Universe will never leave you alone at such a time like this. Angels are all around you, as they gather without fail whenever a soul is seeking its wholeness. This is absolutely not the time to isolate; rather, despite whatever resistance you feel, allow yourself to join with at least one other human being..."
-Marianne Williamson

Don't forget to enter my giveaway it ends soon. Click here to be taken to the blog post where you will need to leave a comment to be entered to win a necklace or 1 of 2 handmade jewelry easels! 

~Shannon

Secret Santa

I participated in a Secret Santa over at Lillyella I wanted to wait to open my gift until Christmas but I couldn't. I wanted to blog about my gift but I wanted to wait until after Christmas and till after my 100th post.

I got the cutest package in the mail randomly one December day. It had Merry Christmas written on the back and pretty red floral tape along the seams.
I tore the brown package open in the driveway, the baby was napping, and found a beautifully wrapped gift complete with felt Holly-so cute.

My gift was a handmade Merry Christmas notebook with blank pages. I love notebooks, journals, diaries and it is impossible to find ones with blank pages so I was thrilled with my gift.

Then a bag of glass beads fell out of the package. I hadn't seen them at first because I was so taken with my notebook.

The beads are very cute and I have been having fun tying them onto packages.
It was from Oh Mandie and her shop is here and her blog is here.
Thank You Amanda so much!!!
~Shannon

PS: Have you read my 100th post? Did you enter my 100th blog post giveaway? It ends soon....

For My Sweet Daughter 2010

This is my 100th Blog Post!
I cannot believe how quickly a year has gone. I started this blog on January 1, 2010 with this picture and have since posted many, many pictures of my little girl. I wanted to use this blog as a way to connect with others and to record the important moments of our lives together. Like this and this and who can forget this. 2010 has been a year of many changes for my little family and I am looking forward to 2011 being a year of growth, prosperity and knowledge.

To my dear sweet daughter,

I want to thank you for coming into our lives, 

your father and I are truly blessed to have you as our daughter. 

You are a very sweet and loving little girl always caring for your dolls 

and making sure we have an abundance of tea and cereal. 

You are always happy to sit with us and read a book or have a tea party.

The first several months after you were born were very tough 

because you were colic and I never quite knew what to do. 

I am amazed what a difference a few months have made in you. 

You are a wonderful napper and you sleep the night unless you are sick or in pain. 

You fall asleep talking and you wake talking. 

Every morning we are greeted by open arms and a huge smile.

I wanted to write this letter because time seems to move so quickly 

 it is easy to forget things. So many things have happened in 2010. 

You started the year at 6 months old barely rolling over. 

Within no time at all you were crawling, pulling up, standing,

walking, running, hopping, marching and twirling.

Your baby coos and calls that turned into mommy and daddy 

have now evolved into full sentences and it seems a new one appears every day. . 

My favorite being "my daddy, where did he go?" complete with the 

shoulder shrug and hands out to the side. 

Your new favorite is puppy. 

Your first food was bananas and the list of favorite foods have evolved over the year. 

You like carrots, broccoli, chicken and anything covered in tomato sauce. 

You have just discovered Junior Mints and it was love at first bite!

You love to give hugs and kisses and you blow a kiss and wave goodnight 

every night before you go to sleep. 

You are a very smart little girl and also a little bit stubborn! 

You love your shape sorter but get very frustrated when you can't get the blocks to fit 

into the holes you think they belong in. 

I can already see us working on your homework together in a few years 

with you getting frustrated, saying you can't do it and storming off 

only to return finish the whole thing and get an A+.

I am really looking forward to next year I think we are in for a lot of changes, 

a lot of fun and a lot of memories! 

I am truly blessed to be your mother, you have given me more than you will ever know. 

I Love You Stinker, 

Mama

I have had a fun blog year but I am so excited for what is to come with my businesses, my blog and especially my family.
I want to thank you, my readers for being with me along this journey and say hello and welcome to my new followers.
In the spirit of giving I would like to do a giveaway. I have been very blessed to be a winner in several blog contests this year and so I would like to give a gift to a few of my readers.
My husband, a carpenter, and I are a great team. I tell him what to make and he does. So I sent him to work a few weeks ago with a prototype for a wood jewelry easel and got back well, almost what I was thinking of, after a few revisions we had the finished product. This is what usually happens so he is used to it. I went to work decoupaging the easel with pages from a vintage dictionary. I think this would be very nice at a craft fair, retail display (which is how I am using it), or on a dresser to display a favorite necklace. I haven't seen anything else like these out there so please don't copy.

I am going to be giving away 2 of these easels (each one is different) to 2 lucky readers,
I am also giving away the Three Leaf Necklace to 1 lucky reader!

If you have made it this far in the post here's how to enter:
1). Leave a comment below including your e-mail address.
If you would like to become a follower that would be awesome but not required to win.

That's all you have to do to enter but wait there's more, if you would like an extra entry
or 3 do the following:
2). Share the giveaway on your blog
3). Share the giveaway on Twitter
4). Share the giveaway on your Facebook page

For the additional entries you must leave a link to your blog, tweet or facebook page in a separate comment for it to count.

I wanted to pick the winners on January 6th because it is Little Christmas/Epiphany but I will be at the salon late SO I will randomly pick the winners on January 7, 2011 and they will be notified by e-mail and here on my blog. If the winners do not  contact me within 1 week I will choose another name.

Happy Holidays and a blessed and Happy New Year to you and your family!

~Shannon

ArtBead Scene December Challenge Entry

Here is my entry for the December Challenge at Art Bead Scene Blog.


I used a color palette generator to give me all the colors in The Captive Robin painting.

The Captive Robin, John Anster Fitzgerald, c.1864
I loved the Vintaj leaf I had added red alcohol inks to  and began picking out the other elements.

I chose this handmade glass bead from T Beads and some Vintaj chain and bead caps and finally my favorite Swarovski crystals for some sparkle.

Thank You for stopping by and checking out my entry now head over to Art Bead Scene and check out the other entries! http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

An auction to help an artist in need

On her blog Pretty Things Lori Anderson shared the story of Emilie Gossiaux.
The story touched my heart not only because she bears almost the same name as my own daughter but because I cannot imaging the cost of her medical bills after being hit by an 18 wheeler. Medical bill can be devastating to a family who should be focused on healing.
Lori is auctioning off one of her amazing necklaces to help with Emilie's mounting medical bills.
So please visit this site: http://www.emiliegossiaux.com/ to read more about Emilie and what you can do to help.
Visit this site: http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/12/auction-to-help-artist-in-need.html to place a bid on this beautiful one of a kind handmade necklace.

Michael's Challenge Big Reveal

Welcome to another Michael's Challenge.
For those that do not know about the Michael's challenge it was started by Lorelei at http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com, she chose beads at Michael's and we were to purchase those beads (if available) add our own pendant, clasp and up to 2 other beads. We were to make a necklace and post it on our blogs today December 17th.
These are the beads Lorelei and her friends Nancy and Dani chose for us to use:

I was able to get all the beads except the mother of pearl and grabbed an almost exact replica gray shell bead. I wish they had the MOP beads at my Michael's, oh well.
I used a clasp from Green Girl Studios, a focal pendant from Nancy Schindler at Round Rabbit Extra.
I  added Swarovski Crystal Bicones in 4mm and 6mm and a few seed beads.

I didn't like the chain because it was not baby proof. My 18 month old daughter was able to pull it off without much force. She looks so innocent doesn't she?

So my solution was to double up each link of chain. I treated each link like a jump ring and made a new chain out of the one in the photo above. I love the way the chain looks now and it is stronger too.

I then added the other elements to eye and head pins attaching them to links on the chain. I wanted a double strand look so I strung the pearls and seed beads onto stringing wire and attached that strand to the chain links.

I was definitely challenged by the elements chosen but loved the dark smoky feeling of the colors. I think Nancy's shard pendant was the perfect addition for a pop of color in an otherwise dark NY winter feeling necklace.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, now go and see what the other "players" have made with their Michael's beads.

 http://blog.elysianstudiosart.com/

http://threeredbeads.blogspot.com/

http://starcitystory.blogspot.com/

http://erinsiegeljewelry.blogspot.com/

http://www.thistlefarmarts.blogspot.com/

http://therabbitmuse.blogspot.com/

http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/

http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/

http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/

http://jenjuddrocks.blogspot.com/

http://formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/   <--------You Are Here!

http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com/

http://deborahmpurdy.blogspot.com/

http://beadhappytoday.blogspot.com/

http://pinkicejewels.blogspot.com/

http://craftyhope.blogspot.com/

http://gr8findings.wordpress.com/

http://tropicbeads.blogspot.com/

http://melissaruth.com/blog/

http://maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com/

http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Eye Candy

Don't have much to say tonight. Hubby and I went with my In-Laws and got new cell phones for Christmas. I got an Evo which is amazing. Is it possible to be in love with a phone? I might be. It does everything and more, it even has a kick stand so you don't have to hold it.
My poor little girl is getting her eye teeth and has been miserable at night. She made me rub her face till she fell asleep tonight, so sweet.
I have been trying to come up with the right Christmas presents for my parents and my In-Laws who have both been very helpful this year as we struggled (and still struggle) with money. What do you get someone that says thank you in 3 foot high letters that doesn't cost over $100? *sigh* This is the hardest part of Christmas shopping, I keep thinking of really great gifts only to have them be over our budget.
Here's a couple of things I made and a sneak peak at my entry for Lorelei's Michaels Challenge which shall be revealed on December 17th.

Necklace Giveaway

Head over to Pretty things Blog to enter to win this amazingly beautiful necklace. I really want to win this one so I cannot believe I am telling you to go enter, thus decreasing my chances of winning but I thought it selfish of me to not tell anyone. So here's the link to the post http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/12/necklace-giveaway.html
and you better hurry because you only have until the 10th of December to enter!
~Shannon

Regal

Inspired by the color challenge I just participated in I wanted to give myself a challenge. 

In September I won a book called The Complete Color Harmony from Lori Anderson of Pretty Things.
I have not had a chance to read the book but what I decided to do was to choose a page in the book and be inspired by that page. I am also the kind of person who likes to flip to random pages in art and poetry books and the bible and be inspired by whatever is in front of me.

The page I flipped to was Regal. "The fullness of blue combined with the power of red creates blue-violet. It is the darkest hue on the color wheel and contains no black to diminish its innate power. Combinations using this color symbolize authority and regal inspiration. Likened to the deepest blue-black plums of summer, blue-violet combined with its compliment, yellow-orange, creates a most striking color scheme, This lush combination suggests royalty and is seldom used outside a daunting environment."

I had made the etched copper pendant several weeks ago using an image of a crown from Tim Holtz, I knew immediately that I had to use this pendant in a necklace with this color palette. I then grabbed my box of purple beads. Yes I have my beads organized by color, I did that a couple of weeks ago. So I grabbed the purple box and started designing a necklace using the yellow-orange color and shades of purple.

I chose Swarovski Crystals in baroque, bicone and top drilled cuts. I then added a purple acrylic faceted round, purple carved flourite bead, smooth and faceted Amethyst rounds. For the yellow-orange color I chose Vintage Lucite rounds from a necklace I cut apart. I added bead caps to the Lucite beads and a filigree bead which I opened became a bead cap for the purple acrylic bead.

I have found myself wire wrapping my pieces 95% of the time now. I just love how they look and the wire becomes part of the design, I just love the Vintage Bronze color of this wire. The pendant is sealed and waxed for durability, none of the patina will rub off and it will not turn the skin green.

I just love how this necklace turned out. 

I will have to test drive it for durability and make sure it is child proof. 

Which means: I will have to wear it to church tomorrow and let The Girl play with it during the sermon to keep her quiet ;-)

~Shannon

Inspired by...The Challenge of Color

I was very excited to be a part of Inspired by....The Challenge of Color  -  thought up by the fabulously talented Erin Prais-Hintz.  Visit the original post here.

Inspired by...The Challenge of Color

 

Here's how it worked: All those that wanted to participate were sent a paint palette in the mail from Erin (whew, a ton of work that must have been) we then had a few weeks to come up with a design using some or all of the colors from our given palette. 

We could ask for a specific color palette or leave it up to surprise. I e-mailed that I liked pinks, greens and purples never expecting to get a palette with them all included. I had a great time with this challenge and a challenge it was! I have a very neutral palette normally so adding pink, green and purple all in one piece was different for me.

I made the bracelet the night I got the paint chip, I am not normally this prepared but when I looked at the palette I got and looked at the tiny heart from Mary Harding Jewelry I knew exactly what I wanted to make.
I named my bracelet "Aloe Essence" which is after the green color in my palette. I was most inspired by the green in Mary's heart so that is why I chose this as the name.

I handmade the clasp then wire wrapped a pink opal, a purple dyed jade, a ceramic bead from Gaea and 3 aqua terra jasper beads flanked on either side by Vintaj bead caps. What do you think? I really like this bracelet, it's super cute, simple and comfy all the things I like about jewelry.

Then the days passed and I started thinking about Erin doing several different palettes and I felt I needed to do another piece, it didn't need to match the bracelet but I wanted it to also use all the colors in my paint chip.

So I created this necklace (which I also posted on Jewelry Accord's Flicker group I liked it so much). I used another ceramic bead from Gaea, another purple jade bead, a Swarovski Crystal round,  a green adventurine round and Vintaj clasp, chain and flower.

The pendant and silk are from Marsha Neal Studio. 

I wore this necklace to church last week and I love the simplicity of it and how comfortable it was. I also loved that when my 17 month old pulled on it she didn't break it!

I hope you have fun visiting all the other participants. 

Just click on their names to be taken to their blogs. 

Thank You for stopping by ~Shannon

• Alice Peterson
• Amy Freeland
• Beth McCord
• Brandi Hussey
• Cary Scholes
• Catherine Pruitt
• Cindy Wimmer
• Claire Maunsell
• Cory Tompkins
• Courtney Breul
• Cristi Clothier
• Cynthia Riggs
• Emanda Johnson
• Holly Westfall
• Janea McDonald
• Jeannie Dukic
• Jennifer Cameron
• Judy Campbell
• Karyn White
• Keirsten Giles
• Kelly Morgan
• Kristie Roeder
• Kristin Stevens
• Lisa Godfrey
• Lisa Tracy
• Lori Anderson
• Mallory Hoffman
• Marie Voyer-Cramp
• Mary McGraw
• Nicole Keller
• Nicole Valentine
• Paige Maxim
• Patty Gasparino
• Rebecca Anderson
• Renate Stark-Krammer
• Rita Parra
• Shannon Chomanczuk
• Sheila Summers
• Stefanie Teufel
• Yelisa Rojas

My Jewelry Featured

The bracelet I mead with Mellisa's Robin's Egg Abstract Butterfly pendant was featured today on her blog Chinook Jewelry Blog. I am over the moon excited that she like what I made with her beautiful piece and that she wanted to show it off to her readers!
If you get a chance you should check out her blog and her store (if you haven't already) she makes the most beautiful things.
Here is the bracelet: