Soul's Fire Designs

Still hopping!

2012-03-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Bead Soup is HERE

Bead Soup hopping that is! I am so sorry I am running so late this time around, last time I finished in like two days, but this time... just too much going on! I will keep going! I went from the bottom up, and am only, shamefully, at around #58. So if I haven't gotten to you yet, I will!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who commented, you were all so kind! I had so much fun and am loving seeing all of these creative and beautiful pieces!

Have a wonderful weekend! I will try to get another post up with some new work soon!!!!

~Jennifer

It's Bead Soup Time!!!

2012-03-02T21:39:00.001-08:00

If you are searching for my Challenge of Music post, go HERE

I have to say, I wasn't certain if I was going to be able to pull everything together in time for this one! I was not counting on my entire family (including yours truly lol) being sick off and on for over two weeks! But, somehow, I did it! :) I didn't quite use up all of the incredible bead soup my sweet partner Kari Carrigan of Wee Gems and Charmed Pennies sent me, which you can view HERE, but I made a good effort! And things are still swirling about in my head what to do with the last bits!

My biggest challenge this time around was... which focal to start with?? Kari was so incredibly generous and I had so many possibilities that it was hard to choose where to begin! But after sleeping on it one night, I woke up the next morning with an idea... I pulled out the sweet little acorn that she had made and stared at it. Then I began pulling things from my stash, faceted pale blue jade, czech crystals, stainless steel chain... and finally Marsha Neal Studio silks. Here is what I came up with and I personally LOVE it, I have already worn it a few times (I couldn't resist).

It's really long, the longest necklace I have ever worn and I love it! The next piece that I came up with was another necklace, I could not resist the "J" pendant... it made me think of something from the Regency period. So I set out to make something with a vintage flair...

And came up with this :) Simple but a bit sparkly, elegant, I think it will be perfect for an evening out!

Then it took me time to decide what to do with those gorgeous Charmed Pennies she sent me... Of course the logical thing to do was make necklaces, right? But no, I had done two already.. and this was supposed to be a challenge... hmm... then one day it hit me... I remembered seeing the wonderful Rebecca Anderson of Songbead had done really cool little bangles! Now hmm, I didn't have pre-made bangles... but I did have some fabulous 14g Fallen Angel Brass wire. I'm one of those, if I don't have it I will try to find a way to make it myself girls these days! I also didn't have a bracelet mandrel which presented another problem, so the first try (the red one) I simply made to fit my own (rather small) wrist by simply bending and shaping the wire around my wrist. After I finished I thought, hm, well, that's alright... but I bet I could find a better way... and I stared at that coil of 14g wire for a while and then it hit me! The wire was already coiled to the perfect bangle size! I tried to fit my hand through a loop and it was no problem! I was giddy! So, I quickly whipped up two more bangles for the last two pendants and was pleased as punch!

And the last that I have to show you I made with the incredible lampwork beads Kari gave me, they are so very beautiful!!!

Please excuse the pics if they are a bit off, it was icy out and my fingers were cold LOL. Ok, ok, I know you all have a ton of other hopping to do , so I'll close up for now by saying, my son's birthday was yesterday and I'm having a sale in my shop (20% off anything except Blythe jewelry) using the code: BIRTHDAY Also, I am giving away the gorgeous earrings above to a lucky person who comments (by random number generator but you MUST leave me an email to contact you at, otherwise I will have to redraw!). I will announce the winner on my birthday, March 26th :). Make sure you visit my partner Kari's blog to see what she did with what I sent her! http://weegemsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Thank you so so much, Lori, for making this blog hop possible, for having this amazing idea.. and for bringing us all together as a creative community!! You ROCK!

I had to take Linky thing out LOL it was driving everyone nuts! Here is the list instead:

Hostess, Lori Anderson
Special Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer

1. Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)

2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)

3. Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)

4. Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman

5. Alesha Conklin and Becki Mendivil

6. Alice Peterson and Carol Dillman

7. Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu

8. Amanda Dittloff and Brandy Thomason McNair

9. Amanda Tibbetts and Andrea Trank

10. Amy Freeland and Kay Mallery

11. Andra Weber and Christine Murrow

12. Ann Sherwood and Diane Welte

13. Barbara Bechtel and Kerry Bogert

14. Barbara Lewis and Cat Pruitt

15. Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)

16. Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)

17. Cassie Donlen and Deryn Mentock

18. Cathie Carroll and Janel Dudley

19. Cece Cormier and Morwyn Mullins

20. Charlene Jacka and Christina Hickman

21. Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski

22. Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)

23. Christine Damm and Deb Brooks

24. Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)

25. Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs

26. Cindy Cima Edwards and Eleanor Burian-Mohr

27. Cory Celaya and Rhea Freitieg

28. Courtney Breul and Dana Hickey

29. Cynthia Abner and Jennifer Boreck

30. Cynthia Tucker and Jean Peter

31. Debbie Goering and Heidi Post

32. Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)

33. Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)

34. Diane Cook and Lyn Foley

35. Donna Bohler and Lisa Lodge

36. Donna Millard and Kiersten Giles

37. Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)

38. Elisabeth Auld and Eva Sherman

39. Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)

40. Ema Kilroy and Laurie Keefe-Cecere

41. Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)

42. Erin Grant and Jean Wells

43. Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday

44. Genea Crivello-Knable and Heather Powers

45. Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)

46. Heidi Kingman and Lori Greenberg

47. Helen Kemp and Lisa Wangeman

48. Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent

49. Jamie Hogsett and Jeannie Dukic

50. Jeanette Ryan and Jelveh Jaferian
51. Jennifer Cameron and Tania Spivey

52. Jennifer Justman and Kari Carrigan

53. Jennifer Tough and Lorelei Eurto

54. Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)

55. Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)

56. Julie Anne Leggett and Kelley Fogle

57. Karen Hess and Linda Landig

58. Karyn Bonfiglio and Kathleen Lange Klik

59. Kashmira Patel and Kat White

60. Kat Barron Miller and Kelly Morgan
61. Kathy Lindemer and Rose Binoya

62. Krafty Max and Sandra Miller

63. Kristen Latimer and Pam Ferrari

64. Kristie Roeder and Lea Avroch

65. Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)

66. Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)

67. Lara Lutrick and Lisa Suver

68. Laura DeMoya and Lisa Hanna

69. Libby Leuchtman and Melanie Brooks

70. Linda Koch and Rosemarie Cowit

71. Lisa Chapman and Menka Gupta

72. Lisa Liddy and Marion Simmons

73. Lori Anderson and Marcie Abney

74. Lori Bowring-Michaud and Mary Govaars

75. Lori Dorrington and Maria Rosa Sharrow

76. Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)

77. Lynn Bennett and Mandi Ainsworth

78. Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)

79. Mary Harding and Shannon LeVart

80. Mary Jane Dodd and Stacey Curry
81. Melinda Orr and Molly Alexander

82. Melissa Meman and Michelle Escano-Caballaro

83. Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)

84. Nan Emmett and Nicole Valentine-Rimmer (Canada)

85. Nancy Boylan and Suzette Bentley

86. Natasha Lutes and Patti Vanderbloemen

87. Pam Hurst and Rebekah Payne

88. Patty Miller and Sara Rhoades

89. Rebecca Anderson (UK) and Lori Anderson
90. Rebecca Sirevaag and Sharon Driscoll

91. Rochelle Brisson and Shannon Chomanczuk

92. Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde

93. Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick

94. Sandi Volpe and Sarah/Saturday Sequins

95. Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)

96. Skylar Brez and Theresa Buchle

97. Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)

98. Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

99. Stephanie LaRosa and Vonna Maslanka

100. Terri Wlaschin and Wendy Blum

Challenge of Music: I'm Through

2012-02-28T23:59:00.002-08:00

I had the most amazing musical experience on the first of this month, I went to a little "pop-up" concert by Ingrid Michaelson in Portland (Oregon, for those of you who don't follow my blog :)). I have always thought her a good artist, have always enjoyed her music, thought her voice beautiful... but I have to tell you... there is absolutely no comparison to her live. Watching her interact with her audience, listening to her tell us about her music, catching glimpses into her sweet and warm and funny personality all made me adore her. But the truly spell-bounding moments were when she sang, her voice is so pure, her emotion so real you feel as if you can grasp it in your hands as it winds around your soul. Even singing lighter, more upbeat songs, her voice is so beautiful it just captures you. I cannot for the life of me remember the last evening I enjoyed that way, I was about ten to fifteen feet from her the entire concert and it was incredible.

Every piece was amazing, but the song that pierced me to the quick was "I'm Through." She confided that we were the first group to ever hear it live and told us in her own words what the song meant. She told us it was about trying to move on, going out with someone for the first time after losing someone you loved very deeply. And the new person is really wonderful and ordinarily you might really like them, but you are still too broken over your previous relationship. When she began singing, it was just her on the keyboard, I was overcome by the beauty of the music and her voice... and the sadness. Yet there wasn't just sadness, there was the bitter-sweetness of a relationship that was life changing. There is even a hint of hope, or more correctly, a knowledge that it won't always be so difficult. That moving on will happen, but when you are ready, in your own time. Here are the lyrics, courtesy her official website:

http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/music/songs-lyrics/im-through

I'm Through

I'm going out again tonight
the first time in the longest time
he holds the door and holds my hand
but doesn't feel like you

we laugh at all the people in
the restaurant across from us
he talks a lot but not too much
but doesn't sound like you

it's all because of you that I'm through
it's all because of you that I'm all through

I know there'll come a time again
when everything will fit right in
and I won't have to see your face
in strangers on the street

but I would rather feel the sting
than never to have felt a thing
I'll always know that you were the one
to rip me from the ground

it's all because of you that I'm through
it's all because of you that I'm all through

it's all because of you that I'm through
it's all because of you that I'm all through

I did manage to take a video of her on my ipod at the concert I went to, but the quality is wanting. But I did manage to find another video on youtube of her singing it at the pop-up in Seattle! Here it is:

And now, finally, here is my piece inspired by this incredible song and the lady who performed it:

The picture came out brighter than it really is, the sari silk is actually a deep navy blue. I wanted the whole piece to be rich and moody and slightly tattered feeling which is why all of the metal is Fallen Angel Brass. I chose this amazing pendant from Marsha Neal Studio that I have been hoarding, I love the way it's glazed dark and smoky blues, greys, and browns and looks distressed. To me it represents the fact that the love had before was beautiful, as she says, she would have rather had it than not... better to have loved and lost. I used grey fire agate, dark faceted sapphire rounds and a single grey glass pearl. That pearl is that knowledge that someday it won't be as painful, that life can be good again when the time is right.

I'm through...

Thank you so much, Erin, for hosting this amazing challenge, I have loved every single moment! I hope you will take the time to visit all of the other participants on this wonderful ride of a challenge!

Music speaks to the soul, don't you think?

~Jenn

Music soothes the soul...

2012-02-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

I love music. Music has always been such an enormous part of my life. My earliest memories are of dancing with my mom when I was around four years old, to songs like "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson and "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham... My first crush was on the incredible David Bowie as Jareth in the Labyrinth, I blame his voice. Even now I can't help but love that movie... and him ;). I can tell you what I was listening to in order to get through some of the most difficult times in my life... and which songs for some of the most joyful.

I don't discriminate, I love so many kinds of music! And I am always eager to hear new songs and learn about new styles of music, new artists, new songs! I find that, for me, the perfect music always seems to arrive at just the right time. When my Grandma Ruby died freshman year of high school? It was Backstreet Boys, and I am not ashamed to admit it, their harmonies and light melodies kept me feeling light, helped me survive the trip south and staying nights in her house without crying nonstop. When my Great-grandmother Madeline died in 2003, I was in college, I was listening to a mix of Evanescence, OTR (an a capella group based at the UO that I was friends with), John Mayer, and Miles Davis.

Happier moments... singing along to Bing Crosby music on Christmas Eve with my dad... we did it every year he was home. One of my absolute favorite memories. Singing "He Loves Me, He Loves You Not," (ok ok and dancing..) in a group of girlfriends for the school talent show my senior year was nerve wracking, but fun. I can likely name several songs from every dance I went to in middle school and high school, but I won't. One of the ones I remember best was arm in arm in an enormous circle with my fellow classmates at my Senior Prom singing altogether, Vitamin C's "Graduation". First song that was Eli and mine? "Kiss the Rain" by Billie Meyers... our first dance as a married couple was to Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On..." I adore that song. First song I sang to Addy as a lullaby? "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes". Julie's favorite band as a baby? Paramore, go figure. Toby loves just about everything, but the kid can't go to sleep without me singing "MacCrimmon's Lament".

There's a wonderful English version of it, that I'm going to have to purchase so I can learn the words better (the version I have is all in Gaelic, which I don't speak, though I wish I did!).

So... what does this have to do with my work? A lot, actually. I listen to music almost constantly, so chances are? A piece I have created was influenced by a song... a lyric... an album... something. One of the latest pieces I did is called "Rose Kissed", I have to admit to being a sucker for Taylor Swift. She is so cute and her songs are just... captivating. Her latest single "Ours" inspired this piece which features the most amazing focal by Diana of Suburban Girl Studio:

I love the chorus: "Don't you worry your pretty little mind/ people throw rocks at things that shine/ and life makes love work hard/ stakes are high/ the water's rough/ but this love is ours". Plenty of Fallen Angel Brass, sweet freshwater pearls, and soft sari silk ribbon from GoldenOneToo on Etsy give a sweet, though slightly roughened look to this piece. I love it :).

I think I have been thinking about music like this because Erin's Challenge of Music is coming up! I finished my piece and now just need to do my write up :). The piece was both easy and difficult for me, but I think in the end, it turned out just right. I am so excited to show everyone, the reveal is on the 29th. Also, don't forget, the Bead Soup Party reveal is on March 3rd. I have been working on that one too and am also excited! I will be having a giveaway on my blog for that one, so don't miss out.

I'm recovering from the worst flu I've had in years, so if this post was a bit scattered... blame it on that ;). I hope you are having a great week!

~Jenn

Thank you!

2012-02-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Why am I thanking you? For reading this post. For following my blog. For being a part of my world :) I am so grateful to all of you! I am also so very grateful to have been blessed with Janice of J-Lynn Jewels for a friend. She has been such a huge inspiration for me both as a person and an artisan, she's so uplifting and always willing to help no matter how busy her life is. And now, she has written the most beautiful article about me! I am just so incredibly honored! This community of beaders, artisans, crafters... has been so warm, so welcoming and I feel like I have a place outside of the house for the first time in so long. Thank you, Janice, for everything!! Thank you, all of you, for being such warm and wonderful friends. I am so very blessed! Here is a link to the article, and if you haven't started following Janice yet, you should :) She always has such wonderfully inspiring posts and brings such amazing things to light with such beautiful photography!

http://jlynnjewels.blogspot.com/2012/02/kick-off-sandbox-creativity.html

Also, she has something up her sleeve with this sandbox of creativity! I, for one, can't wait to see what all is coming! It will be so much fun, of that I have no doubt, not to mention inspiring!

I have to go make the little ones lunch, but before I do... I wanted to show you all two pieces I just finished and got up yesterday!

Rosy Dawn is inspired by the beautiful blushing dawns I have been privileged to see in the last few weeks:

The lampwork beads are by Mermaid Glass on Etsy, they are from a set of orphans I got and I just LOVE them, the colors are so wonderful. These are a peachy orange, just gorgeous! And the sari silk is from the wonderful Mudhound Studios, also on Etsy :).

The second is a set of earrings called Rain on the Sea, I love these boros from Iris Glass Art. I used stainless steel to create the ear wires and made them veeeeery long, the ear wires that is. I LOVE the way they look :)

What do you think? Do you like the long ear wires? What are your favorite type of earrings?

Ok! Time to make lunch! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

~Jenn

The Wonderful Lesley and Kari's Delicious Bead Soup!

2012-02-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Let us see how many things I can fit in one blog post... or if I will end up breaking it in two lol. Where to begin? I suppose to be fair we should start with the farthest back thing that matters :). Right before Christmas I received a lovely package in the mail all the way from the UK, the thrill from holding something that has traveled so far and from such a sweet soul is indescribably wonderful. Lesley Watt is an incredibly talented artisan who lives all the way in Dorset, I have loved reading her blog for quite some time now and she is a warm personality (I highly recommend following her if you don't!). To own a piece of her wonderful jewelry means a lot to me. Here are some examples of her work:

Aren't they lovely? Those are two of my favorites! And here is the gorgeous piece that I wore to my Christmas gatherings:

I hope you will check out her blog and shop! Here are her links:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/THEAjewellery?ref=seller_info

http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theajewellery

Next up... are you ready? I AM! Getting a package full of bead soup in the mail is pure heaven! I have been exchanging emails with my sweet and wonderful partner this time, Kari Carrigan (she is awesome, by the way), and couldn't wait to see what she sent me! When I opened the package... I totally squealed. I admit it! I am a squealer, I love pretty packages, ask my partner last time (Elisabeth Auld) I squealed for hers too! LOVE! Kari used the sweetest pink gerber daisy! And then I opened it and the oohs and aahs just didn't stop! I decided I am going to put up a main pic of the whole awesome soup and then I made a little slideshow for those of you who want to drool over goodies with me ;).

Here is the link to the wonderful Kari's blog: http://weegemsdesigns.blogspot.com Hopefully she will be getting my soup soon! I can't wait!

Talk to you soon about Ingrid... ;)

~Jennifer

Quick post to tell you of an awesome giveaway!

2012-02-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

The wonderfully talented Pippa is giving away some of her gorgeous petal and flower capped beads! If you haven't seen them yet, you have to check them out, so gorgeous! Here is the link to the giveaway:

http://pipsjewellery.blogspot.com/2012/02/giveaway.html

And here are some of the lovelies!

Aren't they amazing? And here's a link to her shop for a closer look at her work:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pipsjewellery?ref=top_trail

Ok, I promise, a long post about me today or tomorrow :) I have many exciting things including.... my amazing bead soup has arrived from the wonderful Kari Carrigan and I am so geeking out! Cannot wait to show you! Also I went to the best concert of my life... and have new things in the shop... and have to tell you about the awesome Lesley Watt... yes, long post coming!!!

~Jennifer

Where did it go?

2012-01-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

This week just flew by, I am still back on Monday... ;) So, since the week was a bit too quick for me, I am behind on my special designer highlights/thank yous. First, I would like to share with you (for those of you who aren't familiar with her work), the work of the wonderful and talented Staci Klinger Smith of Staci Louise Originals:

Isn't her work just amazing? I love all of the little details, the way the wire flows, the color combos she uses, how she effortlessly mixes metals. She is truly inspirational in her work! Not only does she inspire with the beauty of her work, but her generous heart. Dear friends of hers just lost a little one and she is holding an auction over on her blog to help them through this difficult time: http://www.stacilouise.blogspot.com/2012/01/bulls-eye-on-my-heart-and-chance-to.html

On a lighter note, this generous lady held a giveaway on her FB page and I was the lucky one! She sent me the most beautiful sterling and sea glass necklace, which is very special to me because the sea glass is from Scotland (which has a special place in my heart, but more on that another day). Here is the exquisite necklace:

I love it so! Here are her links, check her out! She's amazing!

https://www.facebook.com/stacilouiseoriginals

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SLArtisanAccents

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stacilouise

Have a wonderful weekend all! And I'm having a Valentine's sale in my shop! 25% off anything (even already marked down items) through the weekend using the code: KISSME

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoulsFireDesigns

~Jennifer

Giveaway Winners!

2012-01-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful week :) I will start off by announcing my giveaway winners! Firstly, for the pair of earrings:

Number 14 was Louise, when asked her hope for the new year, she said:

"I have been following your work for a while. I really love your eye for colour. This year I want to realise my own dream - to find my inner creativity and express myself through jewellery. It didn't happen last year so fingers firmly crossed."

Here's to finding your inner creativity, Louise! You can do it!

The winner of the bracelet was:

Number 8, Christine! She said her hope for the year was:

"Your earrings and bracelet are so pretty!!

My biggest goal...I'm almost done setting up a torch-fire enamel area & would love to spend more time making jewelry!!"

I can't wait to see what torch fired goodies you come up with, Christine!

Congratulations to both! Please contact me at: mysoulsfire@hotmail.com with your addresses so I can get those out to you! And for all of you who didn't win... I am having 20% off anything in my shop, even sale items! Enter the coupon code: HOPE20 at checkout! :)

Now, I'd love to give you all a peek at the new things in my shop :) I'm really excited about them, I've really enjoyed putting these together :)

Tangerine Sky Bracelet and Earrings:

Twilight in Paris, featuring a beautiful tile by the lovely Marie of Skye Jewels and delicious Fallen Angel Brass Co. brass:

And my favorite... the one I am having an especially hard time parting with... Red as a Fox. Which features

the most perfect sleepy little fox from Rebekah Payne of Tree Wings Studio (paired with Fallen Angel Brass

Co. wire and lovely sari silk from Golden One Too on Etsy):

If you click on any of those images it will take you to the listing where you can see more pics :) I felt so inspired with those, they truly make me happy.

Now, for some exciting news! I made it into Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party!!! This will be my second and I am over the moon excited! My partner this time is the talented Kari Carrigan of Charmed Pennies! I started following her blog after the last Soup and am so excited to have her as my partner this time! I need to put her soup together this weekend, it has been swirling in my head and I think I know what I'm sending :) So excited! Check out her blog and shop!

http://www.weegemsdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CharmedPennies

Later this weekend or early next week I will have blog posts spotlighting the work of two wonderful ladies who last month I was lucky enough to receive pieces by! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

~Jennifer

It's Giveaway Time :)

2012-01-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

I realized, last night, that with all of the craziness of last month I never did a giveaway on my Facebook or on here! I have been so blessed in having my wonderful little family and in having such incredible online friends, I'm so grateful for all of you! In this spirit, the spirit of loving and giving and new beginnings for a new year... I am going to give away not one, but two items to two lucky people.

The first is these earrings, which are a favorite of mine, I call them Gypsy Snowflakes (they feature gorgeous Fallen Angel Brass Co. filigree charms and cobalt crystals):

And the second is the delicate Autumn Shimmer bracelet, which features beautiful Oregon sunstone and Vintaj brass:

I love both of these so much! To enter is very simple... leave a comment telling me what one of your hopes for the New Year is and be creative if you can :) Also please leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win. I will be leaving this giveaway open through the 20th! I'm not going to require you to "like" my FB or look at my shop, but I would appreciate it if you did! Thank you so much for being a part of my little blogging world!

Good luck!
~Jennifer

Laryngitis means... not being able to sing!

2012-01-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

And let me tell you, me not being able to sing is rough lol. I sing all the time, always have. I sing along with pandora, or my itunes playlists... I sing my son to sleep... and I just sing. So when my throat started feeling yucky two days ago I knew I had finally caught what the kids have had, then last night my voice started to go. It makes me sad, not to be able to sing, lol. But I will keep drinking tea and hopefully it will be back soon! Until then... I will just wear the beautiful and perfect pendant I was blessed enough to win from the incredible Erin of Tesori Trovati, she had a giveaway during the Challenge of Color Hop I was a part of a bit ago. When it arrived I was dealing with a rough patch and it just brought a feeling of joy and peace to me. I have worn it a lot since, on a simple silk ribbon/cord from Marsha Neal Studio (these silks from her are incredible, so soft!!).

I grew up mostly in the Pacific NW, so rain is something I am very used to... and I have been blessed enough to see plenty of rainbows in my life. This pendant helps me remember that we need to remember that without the difficult times in our lives we wouldn't have the incredible ones... the ones so beautiful they take our breath away.

So, armed with that, I managed to get out a handful of new items over the craziness of the last two weeks, here they are :) I am very fond of this first one, I'm calling it Gypsy Flower Dance and if you want to know more click on it to go to the listing:

The pendant is from Marsha Neal Studio and the sari silk is from B'Sue Boutiques, B'Sue is such a sweet and inspiring lady :) It also has plenty of gorgeous Fallen Angel Brass.
Earrings with more Marsha Neal tiles and stainless steel:

And lastly, a pair of wrap bracelet/necklaces featuring more of that amazing silk from Marsha Neal and one of them has a sweet Oui charm from B'Sue Boutiques:

Happy New Year, all! May yours be so filled with joy and love and success that you overflow with goodness and touch those around you.

~Jennifer

What to do with sick littles...

2011-12-29T21:49:00.000-08:00

Give them warm chamomile tea with lemon and honey and read them Winnie the Pooh, of course! Well, for as long as they'll sit still that is. We went south for Christmas... whenever we travel? We all come home sick. But it was a wonderful trip, the children had a great time visiting my parents and so did I. Sometimes I really wish we lived closer, though we're only two hours away... sometimes it feels like we are more like twenty.

So, as I am tending sick little ones, I have not gotten much beading done, but... what I have done I am very proud of :) I managed to put together one bracelet and a necklace. I'm going to share the bracelet with you for now. In my head I am calling it... The Key to Love... though with the new keyword thing in Etsy putting titles on things is tricky. Regardless... this is all born out of a fantastic tile from JLynn Jewels:

Don't you love it? ;) The colors... the texture, the wood burning.. I added plenty of Fallen Angel Brass Co. brass, of course... including this little key that I am totally just swooning over. I used jasper, sapphire, wood beads, opal, sodalite and delicious navy blue sari silk. I wanted something to... bring to mind the softness, depth, and peacefulness that can be found in real love. While making this bracelet I was pondering how there are so many different types of love... so many ways to love... to show love... to feel it. How it is possible to love everyone in your family deeply, but differently. Which makes sense, really, because every person is different, so how could we not love them as they need to be loved? Or at least try. Coming to the end of this year, this 2011, I am realizing that love is important to me. Or rather... how much my desire to find a type of love, a way to love, all of the amazing people in my life.. that is important to me. Love means many things, is many things, but I think... the most wonderful thing about love is its ability to grow.

Now if only we could all find a way to let it grow... hmph, there I go rambling again. Well, sweet friends, I love all of you, and am so grateful for your kindness, your support. It is an honour to be part of your lives :)

Love one another... as best you can :)

~Jennifer

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:36:00.001-08:00

I realized... I never said Merry Christmas to all of you wonderful friends! Merry Christmas, to all of you, albeit a bit late. I am so very very grateful for all of you!

May your holidays be oh so very merry and bright!

~Jennifer

P.S. I promise a decent post a bit later this week, still recovering from our whirlwind trip to visit my parents lol.

Ornament Swap Blog Hop!

2011-12-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I want to thank Sally Russick (of Wireworked fame) for hosting this awesome exchange and blog hop in the spirit of the season! I'm so excited to be a part of it :) My partner was the wonderful Sandi Volpe, I encourage you to check out her webpage (beyond her blog post) she is an incredibly talented artist :)

I, being the scatterbrained mother of three that I am, forgot to take pictures of my ornament before I sent it off *hangs head in chagrin*. So Sandi was kind enough to take a picture of it for me :)

I wanted to create something... beautiful, but unusual. Any of you who know me very well know I have a complete obsession with Fallen Angel Brass Co. brass... and I'm a total addict for their wire :). So I decided I wanted to create a little snow whirlwind for Sandi. I filled a longish piece of wire with frosted glass seed beads and twisted them round into a spiral, then added a gorgeous blue boro bead from Iris Art Glass. Beneath the boro I've twisted and hung sparkling swarovski crystals. Simple but I think it hangs well and I hope the boro will shimmer and the swarovskis sparkle on her tree :)

Here is the absolutely BEAUTIFUL piece, Sandi made me :)

Isn't it lovely??? You can learn more about it on her blog post :) Here are the links for the rest of the wonderful ladies in the hop! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season :)

Erin Prais-Hintz and Alice Peterson

Sally Russick and Kim Hora

Susan Kennedy and Kathleen Lange Klik

Patty Gasparino and Cindy Wimmer

Hope Smitherman and Melissa Meman

Jennifer L. Justman and Sandi Volpe

Jenny Davies-Reazor and Christine Altimiller

*Rebecca Anderson and Jen Velasquez

Jeanette Blix Ryan and Tamara Soper

Holly Westfall and Mallory Hoffman

Pretties...

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know, I owe you guys a really good post... but I've been sick and I'll be honest, my brain isn't up to it lol. So instead, I am going to make this picture heavy and show you some of my new pretties :) I've finally been able to get to work with my new Marsha Neal goodies! Marsha has such incredible talent, each of her ceramic pieces, pendant or tiles, is just filled with beauty. And each one is so unique! I love her glazes, each one has its own appeal, this set of earrings I'm calling "Caramel Toffee" can you guess why? ;)

"Black Magic"

"Peach and Raspberry Sorbet"

And some gorgeous enameled beads from Sally Russick of Wireworked, they have this delightful crackle finish to them, it is just amazing! I'm calling them "Sweet Sunshine":

A gorgeous tile from Marie Cramp of Skye Jewels (this one I dubbed "Queen Bee") and Fallen Angel Brass Co. brass. Marie's tiles are always so lovely, this one has the prettiest soft green color, and I love wrapping her tiles in Fallen Angel Brass filigree!

Click on any of the pics to be taken to the Etsy shop for more images and a description! Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season :)

~Jennifer

Artists Helping Artists Silent Auction

2011-12-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Artists Helping Artists Silent Auction

Several artists in the blog community have decided to band together to help a fellow artist in need.

Have you ever felt adrift? Had something happen in your life that left you a bit stunned, a bit helpless? Have you ever needed a helping hand? Wished for someone to lean on? I have. We artists have become friends thanks to the amazing world of blogging... and we are all banding together to help a fellow artist. We all have our roots in a love for creativity and are reaching out to help ground a friend in need. I have donated to the cause, will you?

I created this piece for the Bead Soup Blog Party (here is my post for more info) and it is beautiful. It features a gorgeous copper pendant from the Queen Bee mines in Arizona, fire agate, jasper, and suede cord. I chose this piece because the layered circles remind me of love and friendship... they are intertwined... connected. If a piece was lost then the entire pendant would be less stable, each circle makes the other stronger.

My partner from the challenge, Elisabeth Auld made the clasp herself. It is a beautiful and vibrant piece. It's full length is approximately 18", the pendant measures approximately 2" across and 1.75" down.

Would you like to be the winning bidder?

Please leave a comment along with your bid. If you are the winning bidder, you will receive an invoice after the close of the auction. There must be a way to contact you. If you have email preferences turned off in your profile, please leave your email.

Bidding will begin at $25

(shipping is included, USA residents only, sorry!)

Bids will be taken through Sunday, December 11th at midnight Pacific Standard Time.

Many people are auctioning items to help out! Please visit these the other artists below and place your bid! ALL proceeds of this auction will be donated to the cause! :) Thank you!

List of participants:

Heidi Post http://expostfactojewelry.blogspot.com/

Marie Cramp & Lori Anderson http://skyejewels.blogspot.com/

Barbara Bechtel & Staci Smith http://secondsurf.com/

Erin Fickert-Rowland http://elysianstudiosart.com/

Keirsten Giles http://www.cerebraldilettante.blogspot.com/

Andrew Thornton http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

Karen Totten http://starryroadstudio.blogspot.com/

Kristi Bowman-Gruel http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/

Nan Emmett http://spiritrattles.blogspot.com/

Maire Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Amanda Cargill Austin http://www.seashoreglassgirl.com/

Janice Everett http://jlynnjewels.blogspot.com/

Rebecca Anderson http://songbeads.blogspot.com/

Shannon Iko Chomanczuk http://formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Justman http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/

Erin Prais-Hintz http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/

Kerry Bogert http://kabsconcepts.blogspot.com

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

Erin Seigel http://erinsiegeljewelry.blogspot.com/

Courtney Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/

Feel free to return and bid again!

Happy bidding!

Randomness...

2011-12-07T09:11:00.000-08:00

I took this yesterday morning :)

For my Color Challenge post go HERE

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things... did a random post this morning and has inspired me to do one of my own :).

I love mist. I especially love jogging in the mist. It makes me feel as if I'm on some mystical isle... going to encounter something magical any moment.

I still think dewdrops are magical.

Ice on a spider web is art.

I love coffee. Currently drinking mine with heated milk and Torani's hazelnut syrup.

I alternate peppermint and cinnamon in my hot chocolate. Year round.

I love jogging to a random assortment of music... very random. This morning? Four by Blues Traveler, Brand New Day by Demi Lovato (from Camp Rock 2), Crazy Game of Poker by O.A.R., Faster by Matt Nathanson, and Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 were among my tunes.

I am addicted to roasted garlic Melba Snacks.

My son has this little wicked laugh that makes me laugh till I cry (he's 21 months). It is awesome.

My elder daughter is smarter than I am I think. It terrifies me (she's 5).

My younger daughter is definitely more athletic than I am... she just turned four.

Bing Crosby is my favorite Christmas music.

Yup. Randomness. Thanks, Lori, for the inspiration :). Tell me... what random things are on your mind?

~Jennifer

Another quick post..

2011-12-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

For my Color Challenge post go HERE

Frost yesterday morning on my jog:

I feel like a bad blogger... I'm always thinking I should blog... but in between trying to work, chasing three kids, cleaning house... getting ready for Christmas... there never seems enough time! So what can I show you right now? Hmm... well, let's see... I have a few pieces I've been trying to get pics of but the weather has been rather uncooperative every time I actually make it out there lol. But I did take some (rather awful) pics with my ipod so that I can show you the absolutely GORGEOUS pendants I got from Marsha Neal Studio's destash sale... a couple I bought, most I got with a gift certificate I won in one of her totally awesome like-fests on her FB page. I had so much fun getting to know her throughout her sale, she is one amazingly cool and fun lady! So here are the pendants, some I started playing with and are wire wrapped and even on a bit of sari ribbon or cord.

I haven't finished anything with them yet, though I am in love with the orange one with the copper and the orange and pink sari silk... I think I'm going to add a bit of copper chain maybe? I just ordered some chain, hopefully it will be in this week. Her pendants are seriously to die for in person, the colors of the glazes, the pretty details... I forgot to take a picture of the one I've been wearing, I'll have to do that later so you can see :) It's my favorite lol. I will keep you updated on what I do with these, playing with them is fun! Hopefully I will have a couple of them up in the shop this week in time for Christmas!

Here are all of Marsha's links:
https://www.facebook.com/MarshaNealStudio
http://marshanealstudio.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MarshaNealStudio

I did manage to get a couple of items up in my shop this week amazingly. My favorite of them is this one, it's called "Sparks Fly" a perfect stocking stuffer in my opinion *wink*:

Vintaj hand stamped blank (I LOVE my stamps, this font just makes me happy), swarovski crystals in shades of red, and a gorgeous silk cord from Marsha Neal Studio in a deep blue. I also added two other cute hand stamped pieces and a pair of fabulous earrings, go check them out! If you are a FB fan I have a sale code on my page :)

Hope you're having a great weekend! What are you up to?

~Jennifer

Color Blog Challenge!!!

2011-11-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, I might be a wee bit excited about this... just a wee bit... I had so much fun with this. When I saw that Erin was doing a challenge involving colors... and these amazing palettes by Jessica Colaluca of Design Seeds... well, I had to give it a go! I knew I was going to be super busy with craft shows and holidays and my daughter's fourth birthday... so I chose blue because I'm comfortable with it. I know, I know, seems like I wimped out, right? Well, not really, the palette chosen for me has colors I've never used before! I was so excited to get it!

Isn't it amazing? You can click on the pic and go straight to the image on her site and tell her how awesome it is :) So the colors I had the most trouble with were the middle three... three colors I've never used. Sort of a beige-y, cargo khaki-y... I like it, but man was it hard to find just the right beads! And then that lovely soft grey and the darker grey with the hint of blue to it... so... ready to see what I came up with?

So let's briefly talk about what's here... there's the sky blue seed beads, of course. I have to admit, I do not normally work with seed beads, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone some and thought this would be perfect. The blue amazonite jasper rounds are one of my new favorite things, I think they are just gorgeous. Then there are three different shades and sizes of fire agate... dark brown, khaki, and shades of grey with a hint of blue. I also added two wickedly fabulous enameled beads by Sally Russick of Wireworked (she totally rocks, in case you were wondering). All of the gorgeous metal is Fallen Angel Brass (they are such cool ladies!). And the perfect little heart is by Janice of JLynn Jewels (who is the sweetest!), I used it because the colors fit the scheme... and the swirls reminded me of the branches of the tree in the pic :). Here's one last close up of the beads:

Now! Onward! Many more fantastic blogs to check out :) Thank you so much to Erin for organizing this!! Can't wait to see what everyone else did! Oh, and I've decided to leave my sale up in my shop another day or two... so feel free to check it out! Thanks so much for dropping in :)

~Jennifer

Here's the rest of the list!!

Here is the official list:

1	Norma Turvey	Teal	Color Crave
2	Jeannie Dukic	Green	Mineral Tones
3	Mary McGraw	Teal	Embellished Hues
4	Jo Tinley	Red	Decadent Tones
5	Rebecca Anderson	Pink	Tulip Tones
6	Kristi Jaro	Red	Temple Entrance
7	Stephani Gorman	Green	Dew Tones
8	Melissa Meman	Green	Fruit Star
9	Kathleen Lange Klik	Teal	Silk Hues
10	Cynthia Riggs	Red	Autumn Comfort
11	Heidi Post	Teal	Flora Bright
12	Cece Cormier	Teal	Merino Teal
13	Amy Freeland	Gray	Cultured Tones
14	Alice Peterson	Blue	Island Play
15	Rose Noble	Gray	Autumn Stacked
16	Kristina Johansson	Yellow	Sunny Flower
17	Kirsi Luostarinen	Teal	Dragon Hues
18	Tari Kahrs	Orange	Citrus Tones
19	Mallory Hoffman	Purple	Petaled Dark
20	Molly Alexander	Brown	Peppered Tones
21	Regina Santerre	Red	Frosted Berry
22	Emanda Johnson	Teal	Color Purl
23	Amy Severino	Orange	Winged Tones
24	Bobbie Rafferty	Teal	Lime Hues
25	Tanya Goodwin	Gray	Pecked Tones
26	Lisa Lodge	Blue	Nocturnal Tones
27	Hope Smitherman	Blue	Bloom Tones
28	Linda Landig	Green	Cacti Dark
29	Ambra Gostoli	Teal	Perched Autumn
30	Lori Bowring-Michaud	Blue	Sharpened Blue
31	Pippa Chandler	Teal	Hungarian Hues
32	Keirsten Giles	Purple	Mineral Brights
33	Jennifer Justman	Blue	Autumn Rays
34	Sandy Richardson	Purple	Moroccan Brights
35	CJ Bauschka	Teal	Teal Air
36	Shaiha Williams	Teal	Sushi Hues
37	Kay Thomerson	Purple	Autumn Spectrum
38	Sally Russick	Purple	Golden Gate Tones
39	Cilla Watkins	Purple	Autumn Infused
40	Shirley Moore	Purple	Frozen Heather
41	Jenni Connolly	Gray	Paw Tones
42	Tamara Soper	Green	Field Tones
43	Sharyl McMillian-Nelson	Blue	Nested Blues
44	Jen Velasquez	Pink	Sweetened Tints
45	Maria Grimes	Red	Bright Bloom
46	Elisabeth Auld	Gray	Petaled Tints
47	Susan Kennedy	Pink	Zinnia Tones
48	Shannon Chomanczuk	Gray	Autumn Leaf
49	Holly Westfall	Yellow	Sprinkled Tones
50	Patty Gasparino	Red	Color Carton
51	Angela Little	Pink	Singapore Brights
52	Lizzie Zawinski	Green	Budding Hues
53	Kristen Stevens	Pink	Scooped Tones
54	Dawn Doucette	Brown	Jarred Tones

SALE! Oh! And a giveaway too! :)

2011-11-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to start my sale on Small Business Saturday... but my husband talked me into starting it early. Woohoo! Lucky you all! :) I will be at a craft show from nine-ish to four-ish today.... but when I get back I will pack up everyone's orders and try to get them out on Saturday (Monday at the latest, swear it!). So... get on with the sale, you say? Ok! I have three, THREE codes for my shop... one for my Twitter buddies... one for you lovely bloggers... and one for my fabulous Facebook like-ers. And if you are all three... well, you will get all three codes. They are all different, for different amounts, and for different types of items :)

My most popular item is my wrap bracelets... so for you fantastic bloggers... you get 15% off of any wrap bracelet in my shop, using the code: WRAP15

Now... not only are you getting fifteen percent off, but I always ship free in the US and every item comes to you (or can be shipped to someone else) in a lovely organza bag. And I'd be more than happy to include a nice note if it's being sent as a gift! So what can you get with this code? Here are some examples...

and...

or how about...

Oh but I'm not done yet! LOL. I'm doing two giveaways as well! One on FB and one here! To be entered into the giveaway on here is easy, three quick steps!

1) Like me on FB and/or Twitter (I won't lie, I'd love it if you did both *wink*)

2) Share this blog post on FB and/or Twitter (see above *grin*)

3) Leave a comment telling me you did! Easy peasy! And what do you get if you do?

These lovelies... I'm calling them "Gypsy Snowflakes" and I <3 them!

I'll use the happy random number generator on Sunday to draw a winner. My sale and the drawing are open through Saturday night :)

Thank you all of you for your support! You guys rock!

~Jenn

A Quick Moment for Thanksgiving...

2011-11-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

The pic I submitted for JLynn's Photo Challenge

And I mean that in the way it should be used... for giving of thanks :) I saw a lot of people were putting up posts about what they are thankful for... and realized I wanted to do the same. Here are just a few of the things I am giving thanks for this year:

~My wonderful husband of almost seven years... he still tells me I'm beautiful even when I'm a mess. For going to school and working hard so that we can have a better life. For giving my children a father they can look up to and be proud of. And for his loving us all so much.

~My beautiful, brilliant, absolutely amazing children... for loving me even though I'm not supermom. For giving me hugs and kisses when I need them and even when I don't. For making my heart melt each time they tell me they love me and for reminding me how beautiful the world is.

~For my best friend, Marjorie, for being the amazingly warm and wonderful person she is. For her patience, for her ability to make me smile and laugh, for her inspiration, for her time, for her ability to keep me going even when I feel I'm going to fall.

~For my other best friend, Charissa, for sharing a love of coffee, crazy kids, sarcasm, 80s teen flicks, certain book series... and for letting me turn you into a girl who likes fashion and make up. HA!

~For my brothers, my parents, my uncle... my grandparents... thank you for being there. Thank you for loving me and supporting me and helping me become who I am.

~For all of my incredible online friends... meeting all of you has been an honour. Thank you for being a part of my life, for inspiring me, for being the little beacons of light in my days :) You are all amazing!

~For the ability to create I thank God. I don't know how I could survive without it.

~For music... of all kinds.

~For coffee... without which I couldn't survive daily life ;).

~For rainstorms.

~For the ocean, which I miss on a daily basis, but which I can see and hear whenever I close my eyes.

and... so many other things. But it's been more than a quick moment, time to get back to daily life!
OH! Before I forget! I'm going to be having a sale in my shop on Small Business Saturday (this Saturday). My shop will be "offline-ish" on Friday because I'll be at a show. But everything that doesn't sell will be available on Saturday. I will have three sale codes available... one for my bloggers, one for my FB like-ers, and one for my Twitter-ers. So keep your eyes peeled! I will also have a couple of giveaways!!

Happy Thanksgiving, loves, may your holiday be full of joy!
~Jennifer

https://www.facebook.com/SoulsFireDesigns
http://twitter.com/#!/SoulsFireDesign
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoulsFireDesigns

How did it go?

2011-11-18T20:25:00.000-08:00

I've heard that question a lot in the last week and I always have to think about it. I suppose it all depends on how you look at it. There were plenty of people passing through the cafe/cultural center. Everyone's displays looked fantastic! And I met the nicest people, the other vendors were all absolutely wonderful and I also met many other people who stopped by my table and looked around that were just so friendly :). All in all I think it was a good chance to get out and meet people and try out my new displays. I'm pretty proud of my displays, I think they turned out really well. My husband somehow in the midst of his law school insanity managed to drop by the hardware store and create stands for my wrap bracelets. I knew exactly what I wanted and he managed to find it! All in all the stands took him like ten minutes to make once he had the wooden pieces lol, but they are perfect!

Here are the not so great pics I took with my ipod:

I want to cover the cork with fabric but ran out of time, I'm hoping to have that done before the next one... though it's in a week so we'll see :). I received quite a few compliments on everything and it was so nice! Everyone seemed to love being able to touch everything and I had one woman say she came hoping I'd be there so she could see my work in person! That was an amazing feeling! People weren't much in a buying mood, but it was so nice to talk to people and be around other vendors. And the coffee smell was just soooo wonderful! LOL. Here are a few of the things I've been working on, some are in the shop and some aren't quite yet. If you see something you love and it isn't listed yet, feel free to send me a message!

That last pair are my favorite... I'm calling them Wind and Fire... the way the boros swirl with the blue and then the bits of fiery oranges and coppers and reds.. LOVE! :) Let me know what you think! Hope you all had a great week and have a wonderful weekend!

~Jennifer

Pre-Holiday Fair Madness

2011-11-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

I have never done a craft fair... I've been to a handful over the years and always thought how amazing the vendors were. To be able to make beautiful and or useful things with their hands seemed so wonderful to me, still does :). So now, to be doing this myself is just crazy to me, but exciting :) Doing all of this prep for it has been a bit exhausting and I'm still nowhere near done, it's amazing how the smallest tasks take forever when you have three littles lol. I've got about a million ideas for jewelry pieces in my head right now and I've started acquiring ways to display my jewelry, thank you second hand stores! Unfortunately they need to be sanded, which I started last night and I had forgotten what a pain that is to do by hand... hopefully I'll be able to paint tonight or tomorrow.

I thought I'd show you what my bead table looks like at the moment, to give you an idea of the chaos reigning ;) I have finished pieces mingling with barely started ideas... Marsha Neal silk ribbon... KAS ribbon.... tons of Fallen Angel Brass Co. brass... charms, chain, jump rings... swarovski crystals. Yup, a royal mess LOL.

It's actually much better today than it was last night... sad as that is LOL. And I won't even show you the floor which is even worse... boxes of beads, packaging, silks, my metal working stuff... it's a disaster. Here's one of the things I picked up to use for displaying, it needs a bit of work, but it has potential. I was playing around with it last night trying to imagine how I was going to use it.

It's a nifty cork board with a wood frame that appealed to me, I really like its length. But it definitely needs a little something, so we'll see what I end up with when I'm finished jazzing it up. I also got that pretty little tray in the first pic above on the left. Sorry these pics aren't the best, used my ipod lol. See those earrings in the middle pic? I got some new and insanely gorgeous lampwork beads from one of my favorite artists (Iris Glass Art) within hours of getting them earrings made themselves, I swear it!

I had big plans for taking the kids and the camera and getting pics of them in the leaves this weekend, but... didn't happen lol. They've all been fighting with a bit of a cold and I decided we'll try maybe after school tomorrow :). How was your weekend? Did you do anything deliciously autumnal? Or is Old Man Winter nipping at your ears already? Whichever it is, I hope you had a lovely weekend and it leads to a fabulous week!

~Jennifer

Sage and Mage

2011-11-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Oh... where to begin? I can't even remember how I found her sweet little FB page, but Gennifer (the lovely woman behind the shop) is just the sweetest soul. I love to read her descriptions on everything she creates... her handmade from scratch goodies all just sound like heavenly goodness. She makes everything from perfumes, to lip balms, to teas... to gorgeous jewelry. And when I say gorgeous? I mean it. Her color combinations make me swoon. This one for example, it's one of her Happy Bracelets:

Really does make you happy, doesn't it? It just makes me think of delicious candies or something... so rich and luscious. I'm also totally drooling over her chocolate mint lip balm... yum!

Check out her awesome shop intro:

"If Sage and Mage was a real-life shop, it would be a small, old house. You would release the smell of lemon thyme by treading up a soft, green path to the porch. The porch steps would creak, a raven would call, and the door would open, welcoming you. Light would stream in the windows, illuminating shelf upon shelf of tinctures, treasures, trinkets, lotions and potions. Strange and wonderful herbs would hang in bunches from the ceiling.

But what you are looking for would be in a small back room with the phantom scent of violets, in an ancient wooden cabinet, in a tiny drawer, in a tiny box...

Welcome, and I hope you find what you are looking for..."

Isn't it fabulous? Don't you just want to check it out? What are you waiting for?!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sageandmage?ref=ss_profile#

There's her shop link. Now I was the insanely lucky winner of her giveaway last month, I just got my bracelet a few days ago and it is just absolute perfection! She let me pick my own color scheme and I said something "ocean-y" and oh my! It is so beautiful! And it smells like yummy amber too. *happy sigh* Love this woman. Here are my pics, first up, when I opened her package (all the way from Australia!!! How cool is that?) she made everything so beautiful!

And then... oh oh!

and of course... a few shots of it on...

and the smaller flower:

Isn't it just stunning?! I cannot get over the layers of fabric on the flowers, so delicate and just GORGEOUS. I am in awe. Thank you, thank you, Gennifer! You are wonderful! My oceanic dream come true :) Now... just in case you missed it the first time.. here are her links:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sage-and-Mage/121978711166491

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sageandmage

Go and see her beautiful shop! Check out her oils, her balms, butters.. perfumes... and lovely jewelry!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

~Jennifer

Sweet Tarts, Singing, and a Few Favorite Things

2011-10-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have been playing with more tiles... I love tiles... and I am fortunate to know several amazing ladies who make gorgeous tiles. The two I'm excited to show you today are from the lovely and wonderful Janice of JLynn Jewels. Her tiles are just always so warm and inspiring, I love them! This first is another wrap bracelet, when I saw this cute little tile it just seemed so sweet and reminded me of those little sweet tart hearts I used to eat when I was little, the ones that were... tart. Not the sugar hearts you get for Valentine's lol.

And how delicious is the silk ribbon? It has the loveliest shades of purple, blue, mint, and a hint of pink. Color Kissed Silk makes such gorgeous ribbon! And then my second piece is another lariat, though a different type. I saw this Sing tile in Janice's shop and... it's one of those that I had to have. I love to sing. I have always loved to sing. My mother once teased that I could sing before I could speak ;). I was in choirs all throughout school, even at UO for most of my time there. Anyway, there I go rambling again! I love to sing and when I saw the sing tile I had to snag it and play with it! I have the most lovely vintage brass ring from Fallen Angel Brass Co. and it just seemed like they belonged together lol. So here we are... Sing!

I just love the way it turned out! Click on either of the pics to be taken to the shop listing where there are more pics if you are interested :)

Now, I've decided to start trying to show you a few of my favorite things here and there... why? Because I love to share ;) So here is the first for today:

Isn't that the sweetest ring? It's by the wonderful April of Pieces of April on Etsy. She's a real sweetheart, just like her amazing mama, Mary, who made these gorgeous earrings:

and does the most beautiful poetry. You have to check out their shops! They are the most wonderfully warm, funny, and talented ladies!
And since I said few.. I should add at least one other favorite thing. This is a bracelet by the fabulous Patty of My Life Under The Bus stardom, if you don't read her blog yet, you so need to start! Anyway, here's this bracelet that I am totally in love with:

So there you have it... sweet tarts, singing, and a few favorite things! Happy Wednesday, everyone!

~Jennifer

The Last Gift... and What I've Been Working On...

2011-10-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

As any of you who caught my last post know, I was totally shocked and excited to find that I was one of the winners of the Artisan Group Giveaway. If you missed my last post, please check it out :) I met some amazing artisans! The last of my goodies hadn't arrived when I wrote the post, but it arrived a couple of days later and oh! It is so wonderful! It is a positively stunning leather wrap bracelet by Julicia of Julicia's Creations! I am in love :) She makes them custom and it fits so so perfectly! My kids are totally thrilled that I get to wear their names around for everyone to see LOL.

Isn't it fabulous? I am so excited :) So, check out the wonderful Julicia! Here are her links:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Juliciascreations http://twitter.com/#!/JuliciaCreates
http://www.juliciascreations.com/ https://www.facebook.com/JuliciasCreations

Now, what have I been up to? Trying to create a lot more beautiful pieces to go up into the store in preparation for the coming holidays! That's right, they are cooooooooming! I LOVE Christmas, so I am excited! I made I think it was six? Pieces this last weekend? I was hoping to make more, but it was a bit nutty in my house. (I blame the littles... always their fault ;) ) Here are the new pretties I put up this morning, featuring... Fallen Angel Brass! Are you shocked? I'm sure you are *wink*. The first up is my personal favorite earrings ever I think... I call them "Gypsy Soul"

Next up are two winter-y pieces I am dubbing the Snow Princess collection :) I love snowflakes, I think they are just amazing and beautiful:

And the wrap that features the most stunning silk ribbon from Mudhound Studios on Etsy... maybe my favorite ribbon ever!

What do you guys think? I am pretty pleased :) I love all the sparkle! These three are up in the shop now! Click on the pics to go see the listing with even more fabulous pics. :D I'll have even more fun and fabulous things up later this week! I have another set of sparkly earrings and a new lariat ready to be photographed!

My beautiful eldest daughter just went on her very first field trip on Friday (my husband got to go!) they went to the pumpkin patch :) They had an absolutely amazing time and she brought home a very cute pumpkin lol. I'm hoping we'll be able to take the others to pick out pumpkins sometime this week! (before Halloween would be optimal LOL) What are you all up to this week? Anything fun? Hope it is a fantastic one!

~Jennifer

Artisan Giveaway... Oh my lucky me!

2011-10-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

So... as some of you may know... I was one of the incredibly lucky people selected in the Artisan Group Huge 2000 Fan Giveaway! Now, I have to tell you, I am one of those people who generally enters all sorts of contests and giveaways... and never wins a darn thing! So when I saw that I had won THIS I about had a heart attack! And then... then I was giddy. I still am, actually! I feel so special and fortunate and... yes! Yay! Ok, so rumour has it each of the winners is supposed to get six items. So far I have received five of mine and the last is on its way today! :) So I want to tell you about what I got so that I can introduce you to some very cool ladies and shops as a thank you to them and to the Artisan Group itself :) First off... if you don't know about the Artisan Group, I encourage you to check out their blog, they are an amazing group that aims to get handcrafted goodies into the hands of celebrities (through swag bags and such). Check them out!

Ok, now, several of these wonderful ladies were kind enough to drop me an email and let me know my happy prize was on its way. The first of these was the lovely Shawna of Wags and Wiggles, and let me tell ya it is the cutest little lobster dog toy! It is really well made and going to the dog of a good friend of mine, I'll try and get pics of the introduction between the two at a later date ;)
Here's the pic from the Artisan blog:

Isn't it cute? Love! You can check out Shawna's Etsy shop by clicking the store name above, she also has a FB page: http://www.facebook.com/wagsandwiggles

Next up is the gorgeous silver filigree cuff bracelet blank I received from LexiBeads, I still am debating... but I'm thinking maybe of adding some sari silk... we'll see. If I do I will definitely post pictures :) It is so pretty on its own that it is hard to decide LOL. Here it is on my wrist as is :)

And Alexis is a total sweetheart, here are her links! https://www.facebook.com/LexiBeads
http://twitter.com/#!/lexibeads http://www.etsy.com/shop/LexiBeads
She also has a page for her jewelry, make sure you check that out too! https://www.facebook.com/AlexisStudioDesign

Next up is Kathryn of Kathryn Designs, her pendant is so much lovelier in person, it absolutely shimmers! Here is my attempt at taking a picture of it in the awful light in my house... and yes, that is my daughter's head in the background LOL!

Here's the pic from the Artisan Group blog, much better one lol:

Another totally sweet lady, I am so excited to meet all of these new artisans! Here are her links:

Artfire shop:http://www.kathryndesigns.Artfire.com
Facebook page: 
http://www.facebook.com/Kathryndesigns
Twitter: 
http://www.twitter.com/Kathrynjewelry

The next goodies I received were some Boo Boo Balm and Soothing Lip Rescue Balm from Scentability :)  I haven't tried the Boo Boo Balm as of yet, but the lip balm  smells like cotton candy and is amazing!  Here are her links:

https://www.facebook.com/Scentability

http://twitter.com/#!/scentability

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Scentability

And lastly of the fabulous goodies I have been so blessed to receive is a set of gorgeous Thank You cards from Simply Paperie, here's the pic from the Artisan blog:

And her links!

https://www.facebook.com/SimplyPaperie

http://twitter.com/#!/simplypaperie

http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplypaperie

So, thank you, thank you, to all of you who have sent me such wonderful things and to the Artisan Group for doing this amazing giveaway!!  I will blog about any other goodies I receive as I get them :)  And if you have a minute, you should totally check out some of these links!  These are some truly wonderful shops!

Have a fantastic day!

~Jennifer

Sari Blog Hop Reveal

2011-10-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for my bead soup post, please go HERE

So... here we are... the day of the big reveal :) I had a lot of fun with this one, I am coming to just love the look of the sari ribbon... soft, elegant, romantic... and has the potential to be deliciously fun and boho! So, you may ask, how did I decide what to do? Well, I actually had two pieces I wanted to do, but the necklace... still isn't there yet, so I am going to show you all the piece I did do :)

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I present "Hope and Chocolate"...

I know what you're thinking... what a weird name, right? Well, when I was making it, I just had to put the pinks with these chocolate-y browns... and the color so does remind me of semi-sweet chocolate. As I sat there and thought about cancer and oddly enough, chocolate. I thought well... hope is a bit like semi-sweet chocolate... hope makes things that are bitter and hard more bearable. It gives us the strength to make it through things, it gives us a reason to keep going. And... there I go getting all romantic and sappy lol. Alright, here are a few other pics, I really love how this turned out!

Most of the brass on this is by Fallen Angel Brass Co., all of the wire and the headpins. The charm is Vintaj though.

I don't know what it is about the fraying on the ribbon that is so appealing, but it is. I think it softens the stones, softens the wire... sweetens it.

Love it! I hope you love it too! :) If anyone is interested, it is now up in the shop! http://www.etsy.com/listing/83877684/hope-and-chocolate-breast-cancer

Now, go on and check out the rest of the hop! So many fabulous participants!

HERE IT IS:

Sari Ribbon Party Blog Hop

Vickie Wills

http://www.jewelrybyvee.blogspot.com/

Susan Kennedy
http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Michelle Mach
http://www.michellemach.com/blog/

Michelle Lee Hardy
http://fireflyvisions.blogspot.com/

Ruth Crawford
http://www.home-with-ruth.blogspot.com

Hilary Frye, FryeStyle
http://fryestyle.blogspot.com/

Diana P.
http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques
http://www.bsueboutiques.typepad.com/

Elizabeth Owens-Dwy
http://www.clarityofpurplesage.blogspot.com

Connie Rios-Relyea
http://www.JewelsDesignsCreativeCorner.wordpress.com/

Jennifer Justman
http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/ < < < YOU ARE HERE
Deb Davis
http://www.naturaltreasuresbydeb.blogspot.com

Beanzie
http://www.thevintageheartcharmbracelets.com/the-vintage-heart-charm-b/

Cathie Carroll
http://www.cathiecarroll.com/

Rosemary Cowit
http://www.gemrosedesigns.blogspot.com/

Georgene Lockwood
http://sylvanavintagedesigns.wordpress.com/

Cathy Buckley
http://cathybuckleycatsmeow.blogspot.com

Harry Wood
http://www.oscarcrow.blogspot.com

Sonya Stille
http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com

Mary Deis
http://mdeis.blogspot.com/

Heather Goldsmith
http://asibeadit.blogspot.com/

Susan Rouleau
http://mountainshadowstudio.blogspot.com

Terry Matusyk
http://pinkchapeau.wordpress.com

Pam Chesbro
http://afortunatesoul.blogspot.com/

Mary Shannon Hicks
http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Janice Everett
http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com

Davinia
http://www.daviniadesign.com

Kristina Johansson, Maneki
http://wildrosesandblackberries.blogspot.com

Kris Binsfeld
http://www.cherishdesigns.wordpress.com

Mandy
http://www.beadsforbrains.blogspot.com

Charlene
http://thebeaddreamer.com/blog/

Catherine Jeltes
http://www.galleryzooart.com

Jackie
http://kydojewellery.blogspot.com/

Sharon Palac
http://www.sharonsjewelrygarden.blogspot.com

Deb Beechy
http://beetique56.blogspot.com/

Jean Yates
http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/

Patrice Pfeiffer
http://treeseatreasures.blogspot.com/

Dorcas Midkiff
http://wondrousstrangedesigns.blogspot.com/

Lynn Perry Bennett
http://designsbylynnea.blogspot.com

Linzi Alford
http://www.magpieintheskyspoilheaptales.blogspot.com

Deb
http://greenshoot.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Wainscott
http://www.exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com

Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp

http://skyejewels.blogspot.com

Alice Craddick

http://alicesbeadsandbaubles.blogspot.com/

B'sue Boutiques Creative Group

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bsueboutiques/

I love java sweet and hot...

2011-10-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

Are you a coffee person? I totally am. I wasn't always, but now I am not sure I could live without it. I love coffee. I love the way it smells, I love the way it tastes, I love the happy secure feeling I get when I have it. Because it is really just one of those happy spots in my life, drinking a cup of coffee (or four, depending on the day ;) ). I find when I'm starting to feel stressed that making a pot of coffee, letting the scent fill the house, holding the warm mug in my hands... soothes me. Helps me breathe for a minute. And sometimes that minute is something I desperately need, don't we all? What had me thinking of coffee in such a way, you may ask... well, I just finished reading The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. There is a character in there named Rachel and she says that the way a person likes their coffee can tell you about them... I don't know about that, but it is definitely an interesting thought, don't you think?

I know, rambling, right? Ok, onto business! :) Today I want to talk about what I've been working on! I made two new bracelets this last week or so and have finally had enough weak sunlight to attempt to photograph them :) They feature the work of two ladies whose work I admire very much :) The first bracelet is called "Autumn Leaves in the Wind" and has the most wonderful cuff style bead by Heather of Humblebeads. The blues and browns in it are just so perfect for autumn and I love the oak leaves, so pretty, they just looked like they were blowing in the wind, thus the name :). I kept it simple featuring more of that amazing Fallen Angel Brass Co. brass... chain, wire, and headpins. Can't get enough of their metal! Anyway... here it is!

What do you think? :)

The second piece that I'm really excited about is a bracelet featuring a focal by the wonderful Marie of Skye Jewels. I have a bit of an obsession with the Eiffel Tower (and Paris in general) and anything London related. I just think they seem like such beautiful and amazing things and hope someday to see them in person... until then I will just have to create jewelry inspired by them :) Marie made this lovely tile with a stunning layered image of the Eiffel Tower and the London Eye... it's so dreamy, so romantic... and I tried to keep that feel by wrapping it in a gorgeous filigree from (you guessed it!) Fallen Angel Brass Co. I used this amazing creamy green jasper and soft lavender cape amethyst that almost glows in some lights. After I made the clasp I wrapped it in a finer gauge wire with lavender seed beads and then added a few sparkling swarovski crystals... Oh here, you have to see it LOL

Well? What do you think? :) I'm pretty excited about them. Getting to use such amazing materials by such talented ladies is a true pleasure! If you click on their names above you'll be taken to their fabulous shops!

~Jennifer

Humblebeads: http://www.etsy.com/shop/humblebeads http://humblebeads.blogspot.com/

Fallen Angel Brass Co.: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FallenAngelBrass http://www.etsy.com/shop/FallenAngelJewelry http://fallenangelbrass.blogspot.com/

Skye Jewels: http://www.etsy.com/shop/skyejewels http://www.etsy.com/shop/Moreskyejewels http://skyejewels.blogspot.com/

P.S. Come back tomorrow for the Sari Blog Hop Reveal!!!

Autumn breezes... blow through my mind.

2011-10-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for my soup post, it is HERE

I swear they do, really. I love autumn... it is by far my favorite season. The leaves are turning now in front of the school down the street... and when I jog in the mornings I get to watch the progression. First just a hint of color on the edges of the leaves... and day by day it changes... a little at a time. Rather like some things in life... not everything changes in moments, some things are softer, more gradual. Rather like a steady rain or the surf caressing the shore, changing the shape of it year after year, little by little... Yes, that's right, I get all dreamy and musing in the autumn LOL. So watch out, you never know what is coming next! ;)

For now though, I thought I'd share some of my latest creations :) I've been hard at work... and with such lovely materials it has been a true pleasure to work.. then again, when isn't it? Fallen Angel Brass Co. has become my new favorite place to go for all things metal... there is something so incredibly appealing about their dark brass. It totally fuels my imagination! They have these angel wings... if you know them, you know what I speak of lol. I've wanted to play with them for ages and finally ordered a set... and when they arrived? And I held them in my hands I had a vision... and my hands started working and a few hours later... this was born :) I named it "Fallen" for it's dark fallen angel appearance... and of course the company who inspired it! Thank you, Karen and Tina, you ladies rock! Their wire just makes me breathless with joy :D Without further ado... "Fallen"

Please excuse the middle pic... I need to get myself a proper lady for displaying :) Anyway... I wire wrapped the lapis and the boro (20 gauge wire from FAB, of course). Three types of chain.... some swarovski crystals and pearls. And you have... a lariat *big cheesy grin* Very proud of myself LOL. I love this piece!

Next up features not only FAB... but also the work of an artist whose work I have admired for quite some time now, Janice of JLynn Jewels. She has become a wonderful friend and I am so grateful to her for her advice and daily inspiration, I am so blessed! Anyway, point Jennifer, get to the point! I was sitting here, skimming through Etsy trying to find inspiration.. and saw the most gorgeous tiles she put up in her shop. I usually hem and haw and wait and wait before buying things, worry over costs... not these! I snapped them up within seconds of seeing them! And she sent them out to me quickly too! Angel that she is, because I was so excited!! So here it is, my Wings of Autumn necklace featuring one of her perfect tiles!

Isn't that tile just stunning? And all of that FAB wire and I made the clasp myself too :) I am growing very proud of my wire work lol. Honey jade and cappuccino jasper just seemed to perfectly capture the colors in the tile. And that boro bead I've had sitting there waiting for the perfect piece for months now! It all just seemed to fall together perfectly :) Click on any of the pics to go to my Etsy site to see other pictures of the pieces. Let me know what you guys think! I have several new wrap bracelets and some amazingly sparkly and dangle-y earrings coming up and into the shop this week! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week, my dears!

~Jennifer

P.S. Blogs for the ladies mentioned above! Click on their highlighted names above for their shops! Check them out!!
http://fallenangelbrass.blogspot.com/

http://jlynnjewels.blogspot.com/

We are the champions... of the world. giggle

2011-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for my Bead Soup Post, please go HERE

So here I am... eight days later... and FINALLY finished looking at the blogs! I looked at every single blog and posted comments on all of them with soups (except one now that I remember, I couldn't figure out how to comment... *sheepish expression*) and all of those with no soup that posted why they had no soup post up. If, in my journeys through the well over 300 blogs I missed you... please let me know! I had a fantastic time looking at everyone's soups, though now I am exhausted LOL. Thank you again to Lori for letting me be a part of this spectacular event! I hope to do it again! For anyone who is curious about it and doesn't know what it is, go here:
http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/

The next one is in February! Hope I get selected :)

As for what I've learned doing this... a lot. I learned that trying new things is incredibly rewarding. Even when it is hard. And I've learned that there are a lot of amazing women out there who love to do the same things that I do! THANK YOU, to everyone who took the time to come to my little corner of the blog-iverse. Especially you who commented, it means so much! And those of you who are following me now, YAY!!! Welcome!! I look forward to getting to know you all! I have added... I don't even know how many blogs to my roll now LOL. So I will try my best to keep on reading everyone's happenings. You ladies are all so incredibly inspiring, thank you!!

~Jennifer

Oh! And post note... the fantabulous beads I used in the earrings I created with my soup were from the lovely and amazing Juls! Check her blog out here, if you haven't! http://julsbeads.blogspot.com/

Soul's Fire Designs

Still hopping!

It's Bead Soup Time!!!

Challenge of Music: I'm Through

Music soothes the soul...

Thank you!

The Wonderful Lesley and Kari's Delicious Bead Soup!

Quick post to tell you of an awesome giveaway!

Where did it go?

Giveaway Winners!

It's Giveaway Time :)

Laryngitis means... not being able to sing!

What to do with sick littles...

Merry Christmas!

Ornament Swap Blog Hop!

Pretties...

Artists Helping Artists Silent Auction

Randomness...

Another quick post..

Color Blog Challenge!!!

SALE! Oh! And a giveaway too! :)

A Quick Moment for Thanksgiving...

How did it go?

Pre-Holiday Fair Madness

Sage and Mage

Sweet Tarts, Singing, and a Few Favorite Things

The Last Gift... and What I've Been Working On...

Artisan Giveaway... Oh my lucky me!

Sari Blog Hop Reveal

I love java sweet and hot...

Autumn breezes... blow through my mind.

We are the champions... of the world. *giggle*

We are the champions... of the world. giggle