Thank you!

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!

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!

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?

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!

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 :)

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!

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