Pull & Wool

I love the soft greens and pinks in this cupcake bead by Palm Tree Queen.  The size is great too so you get a nice little handful of cupcake to use on your hoodies, purses, tote bags, etc.  I have 2 others, one in chocolate and one in caramel.  

You can see the details HERE.  Other than that is hot here like anywhere else, but I keep thanking mother nature for NO big bugs and humidity that is nothing like it is in the southern states!  Finally, after 4 ridiculous "March summers" as I call them, we didn't get summer heat until....gee....SUMMER!

Good ole California.

I just got some wool and am trying my hand at felting...wet & needle.  I'm very excited about the wool in parisian colors of pink, black & white.  My first shape test will be hearts and I'll be sure to show you my progress.

The Chocolate Kingdom

Ahhh, my son and I finally decorated our Christmas tree last night. Since the three of us live in a small condo, tree space is a premium! Last year we got clever and got a 6 footer and placed it atop a 2 foot chest, giving us an 8 foot tree. We did it again this time around. My son starts the decoration with draping 6 strands of lights around the tree, 3 clear and 3 colored while I pick the Christmas music cd. He really gets into the tree so that is illuminated fully from trunk to tip. He IS the light master!

We both wanted to keep the decorations simple but I must have my icicles so we just used those plus purple, blue & silver round balls...that's it, and we really liked it. My one concession was a big, ballerina glass ornament, but she is long and slender...like an icicle...get it? She has a little pink tutu.




So here are daytime and nighttime shots for you although it probably doesn't mean much unless you are here to see it. Fun, though.

As for jewelry, I assembled the last 10 little amazing choco-caramel glass cupcakes I have from Payton Jett into a bracelet with a heart lock clasp with a dangling key. I call it the Key to the Chocolate Cupcake Kingdom bracelet.

I mean, don't they look edible to you? They sure do to me!
Sales have been strange this season with what's happening in our economy so I was very happy that a few people bought cupcake jewelry and some stickers this week. I happily mailed those packages.




I also cleaned up my Etsy jewelry shop a little to remove pieces that didn't fit the cupcake theme as it seems that is what most viewers and buyers want to see. It looks much better. Much of the jewelry has free worldwide shipping, by the way.

I'd love to see some of your holiday decorations if you care to share.

Stoned Birds & Paris

A couple of entries ago I promised to talk about Paris and Stoned Birds. My dad attempted to find a home exchange situation so that we could visit Paris for a few weeks in trade for his place in California.

A couple of people responded but no deals ever came through. Now, who knows why it didn't happen. It was such a great idea as it would mean we'd only have to scrounge up airfare and fun money. I don't even count food allowance 'cuz we gotta eat no matter where we are!

So in place of Paris we've just been having other fun like visiting the Chihuly exhibit (see August 23rd blog entry) in San Francisco, munching warm dinners al fresco during sunset at our favorite winery and soon to attend San Francisco's Fleet Week. So we are surely making up for our lack of European escapades but there is
always hope and as someone said in a movie, "there's always Paris!".

I'm just hooked on Payton Jett's glass work talent. I mention her in every blog but it's because she keeps life fresh by accepting new challenges.

I nabbed several of her glass birds recently and 3 of them ended up in my Stoned Birds necklace, thusly named due to only stones being used in this piece...no other materials.



Originally I had a sterling clasp, but then decided to use either glass or stone for the clasp, so it awaits that final component before I list it in my Etsy shop.

Another awesome group of lampwork glass beads is this acorn set from Cassie Donlen. I just had to hold these beauties for a while before I could let them go.





I kept the set simple, just adding chunky bumpy Bali
silver to reflect the bead bumps. This photo captures their awesome shiny iridescent quality. The colors are chocolate and caramel, but when you get them in brighter light, you discover the faint plum iridescence in the chocolate and the hint of gold in the caramel.

Simply spectacular.

I close with a shot of my most fun
design this week, the Royal Opera Necklace. I've been dying to work with these handcrafted felt balls I got on Etsy and Sigaliot's polymer squares from Israel.

The colors and designs are so yummy. I connected them all with various sizes of round and oval sterling silver rings, some smooth, and others oval. A big crescent moon from the Karen Hill Tribe is the focal point.

Originally intended to be opera length, it didn't quite get there, but almost at 34 inches...enough so that even with a beehive hairdo, this easily slips over your head so there is no need for a clasp. Come on over to Etsy and see the complete necklace.

Finishing up a wonderful week of vacation with my husband. We started with one goal and that was to visit his parents. We ended up seeing nearly the entire family which was a great surprise and celebrated several birthdays in one shot. On the spur of the moment, we headed over to my dad's since it was just a couple of hours away.

It was wonderful to introduce my husband to our little secret spot at a country winery that leaves it's beautiful padded wrought iron chairs and tables outside after hours. Seated on a small hill overlooking hundreds of acres of vineyards and mountains, we took a warm dinner to munch while the sun was setting. A few cigars and drinks later, we began to count the stars one by one and await the new moon.

Now THAT's a vacation and a great surprise to add to our travels.

**UPDATE: October 16th: I listed "Stoned Birds" choker mentioned in the post above. You can view it by clicking Etsy.