SOCIAL MEDIA

12/22/09

And the Final Secret Santa Reveals are Here!

Ta-Da!  I would like to share the final Secret Santa jewelry pictures with you, so here we go!.


First, Here is the beautiful and unusual necklace that Deryn Mentock of Something Sublime made for Sally Turlington from Imagine This:

6a00d8341cd2ac53ef0128766baaa4970c-800wi “The Monkey’s Paw”

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Second, here is the gorgeous necklace that Jeanette Blix-Ryan of Jeanette Blix Metal & Wire Jewelry made for Deryn Mentock of Something Sublime:
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Jeanette for deryn

And finally, the beautiful and original brooch that Crystal Neubauer of Other People’s Flowers made for Jeanette Blix-Ryan of Jeanette Blix Metal and Wire Jewelry:

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Wow – what a wonderful experience this has been!  thank you so much, ladies, for your willingness to participate and for the obvious care and attention to detail you each put into your pieces.  I can’t wait until next year!
12/20/09

Even More Secret Santa Reveals!

Hello!  Here are some more Secret Santa gifts made by the incredible ladies in this swap:
First are pictures of the necklace and earring set made for Tami Roth of Cat Tales Etc. by Diane Cook of Rosa and Josie’s:

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These pictures are of the earring set made by Carolyn Mallin of Fanciful Expressions for Jan Thomason of The Polkadot Barn:

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And the third set of pictures are made by Jan Thomason of The Polkadot Barn for Crystal Neubauer of Other People’s Flowers:



JEWELRY SWAP HOSTED BY MISSY 12  09  No. 2

JEWELRY SWAP HOSTED BY MISSY 12  09  #3 close-up of pendant

JEWELRY SWAP HOSTED BY MISSY 12  09

 Aren’t these pieces beautiful?  Keep checking back – there are still a few more pieces to feature!
12/19/09

My Secret Santa Recipient

Back in this post, I teased you with pictures of the gorgeous ocean-colored and silver beads that I received from Artbeads.com to play with, as they are featuring glass and silver for the month of December. 

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Beads pictured:  5x4mm Deep Ocean Mix Picasso Roundelles, 5x4mm Antique Denim Picasso Roundelles, Elegant Loops Clasp Set, 3mm Bright Sterling Silver Roundel Beads, Czech Fire Polished Bead - Montana Blue (6mm), Fire Polished Bermuda Blue 1/2 Metallic Coated (8mm), Fire Polished Full Coat Lumi Green (8mm)

I decided to incorporate them into the necklace design for my Secret Santa recipient, Riki Schumacher of Riki Jewelry.  On the questionnaire I sent out to all the participants, I asked them some questions about things they like, colors they wear and what makes them smile.  Riki answered that she loves the ocean, bees, and wearing blues and aquas, which worked beautifully with the products I had received from Artbeads.

Here are some pictures of the finished piece I sent to Riki:

PC090011 “Pacific Northwest Summer”

To create an asymmetrical effect, I added beautiful large labradorite rectangle beads wire-wrapped using copper wire to soldered and hammered copper hoops on one side.  The size of the labradorite beads adds visual weight, allowing the strand to appear balanced with the opposite strands of the necklace.
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The other side of the piece is made from two strands of copper wire-wrapped links made from the Czech fire-polished and picasso glass beads and the sterling spacers that I received from Artbeads.

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The clasp is hand-made from  14 gauge copper wire, and both sides of the necklace have groupings of tiny glass flower dangles randomly attached to different links.

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The focal is made from some of my etched and antiqued copper sheet with a handmade copper bezel soldered to it.  I placed an antiqued silver bee charm in the center of the bezel and filled it with ICE resin.  The focal is finished with another grouping of small flower charms.

Overall I love the how design of this piece came out, and I might have to make a similar one for myself!

I highly recommend visiting Artbeads.com and checking out their unbelievable assortment of glass, silver and Swarovski crystal beads.  While you are there, poke around in their copper section – I just know you’ll find something special!

To entice you even more, here's a coupon code for 10% off your next Artbeads purchase of $50 or more:

SCP10P-THANKS-1209
Expires 1/31/2010

Remember, Artbeads.com offers FREE SHIPING in the USA & $1 Shipping to Canada




Necessary Legal Stuff: I have received the following products free of charge from Artbeads and I am honestly reviewing them. I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received: 5x4mm Deep Ocean Mix Picasso Roundelles, 5x4mm Antique Denim Picasso Roundelles, Elegant Loops Clasp Set, 3mm Bright Sterling Silver Roundel Beads, Czech Fire Polished Bead - Montana Blue (6mm), Fire Polished Bermuda Blue 1/2 Metallic Coated (8mm), Fire Polished Full Coat Lumi Green (8mm)

More Secret Santa Gift Reveals…

Hello!

I want to share some more Secret Santa gifts with you:

The first one is a frame made by Riki Schumacher of Riki Jewelry for Diane Cook of Rosa & Josie’s:

DSCN3217 “Sisters”


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This second set of pictures are of the necklace that Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio made for Carolyn Mallin of Fanciful Expressions:

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Ladies, you continue to astound me with your unbelievable artistic talent!   Stay tuned for updates from more Secret Santas!
12/18/09

Thank You, Secret Santa!

The only downfall to hosting a Secret Santa swap is that your Secret Santa really isn’t much of a secret.  The flip side of that, however, is that I knew who was going to be sending me my piece of jewelry, and I was so excited to see what this fantastic, artistic woman would send.   So you can imagine my excitement when I opened up my mailbox yesterday to find a beautifully wrapped package from my Secret Santa, Sally Turlington from Imagine This.  With anticipation I opened the box to discover the most beautiful necklace that incorporates so many of my favorite things:  found objects, vintage chain, the color red.  It couldn’t be more perfect for me! 

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I love the asymmetrical design with the beautiful handmade watch reliquary.

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The beautiful handmade clasp and use of different metals is right up my alley!

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Thank you, Sally, for this beautiful gift.  I can see how much time went into it, and I will treasure it always.
12/17/09

And The First Secret Santas Reveal Themselves...

OK...I was going to try to wait until tomorrow to post the first Secret Santa pictures, but I’m just not that patient!  Boy is this a group of talented women!  

So, without further ado, I will post a few pictures of the pieces I know have made it to their ‘giftees’.  I am going to give you the links to the artist and the recipient with each picture, so you can go to their respective blogs and read more about each piece:

This first picture is of the necklace that Tami Roth of Cat Tales Etc. made for Beth Bricker of Vintage Sweets:

Tami Roth - A Kind Heart necklace for Beth B_
“A Kind Heart”

Tami Roth - A Kind Heart (close-up)


This second picture is of the necklace and earrings set that Beth Bricker of Vintage Sweets made for Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio:

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“Sweet”

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Didn’t they do beautiful work?  Stay tuned for more  pictures over the next week!
12/16/09

2009 Secret Santa Christmas Jewelry Swap



I am SO excited to tell you about the Secret Santa Jewelry Swap I've been hosting with twelve of the most talented women I know. 

The swap works this way:  each participant was randomly assigned a 'giftee' and was to make a piece of jewelry for that person.  I sent out a list of questions so the Secret Santas would know a bit about who they were making the jewelry for (for example, favoite colors to wear, what makes them smile, are they vintage or modern girls, etc.).

After each person receives their gift, they will be taking pictures of them and posting them on their blogs with links back to their respective Secret Santa’s blog as well. 

Here's the list of participants and their blogs:

• Beth Bricker – http://vintagesweets.typepad.com/






• Jeanette Blix Ryan – http://www.jeanetteblix.com/

• Riki Schumacher – http://rikijewelry.blogspot.com/


• Sally Turlington - http://sallyt.typepad.com/


I will also be posting pictures of all the pieces on my blog, so check back here over the next week or so for updates!  Boy are these ladies talented!