fire and glass

'Daisy Jane' Although I've sold a number of beads over the past couple of years very few of those have I seen made into a piece of jewelry. I consider it a great treat when I do~ it's very satisfying to see that what you've created with your hands has now been integrated into another artisans work. Make sense?... sort of circle of creation that is satisfying to a poetic soul. I haven't mentioned but I'm nearing the end of the master cleanse and its been 7 days since I've properly eaten anything so if I'm a little rambly..keep that in mind~ and that's a whole other post. At any rate, it was a lovely treat to see that the talented jewelry designer Susan of Hot Rocks had completed a necklace the other day using some of the beads that she won in a contest I held a while ago. As is her signature, this piece is named after a song by the popular 70's band, 'America'. It's a beauty of a necklace and those little beads look pretty ha

There's not a day goes by that I'm not completely inspired by some of the work I see online~ but this woman's work had me googling and learning all about 'cold connections' yesterday. I did finally cave and order the above book.. *sigh* The term cold connections refers to any connection that you would make with metals without using a torch.. thus the word 'cold'.. :) In the jewelry world the term cold connections usually describes mechanical joining techniques that are used to fasten together parts that cannot be soldered (i.e., using a "hot" connection). The leaders of the pack are probably rivets, followed by tabs, screws, and knots. It's worth noting that prongs and bezels also belong in the cold connection category. In many cases, cold connections fall into a "layer-this-onto-that" approach. Drill matching holes in a piece of wood and a brass sheet, then clamp the two parts together with a rivet. There is nothing wrong w

Simple little hand-dyed silk wrist wraps..they wrap around the wrist several comfy wraps and button with the handmade glass discs. These are sold but let me know if you want one and what color you'd like. I've got some that are more neutral as well.. if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll take pics. What did you all do over the weekend?

Enjoy your Sunday!

I was up very early this morning and so finally took some time to actually look through ArtFire , one of the latest selling venues for handcrafted. When you've some time I would encourage you to go and slow browse through ArtFire yourself. Personally, I was enthralled with the web elements .. likely because my Sweetwater Designs site could use an overhaul, and I'm realizing that sometimes you have to leave it to the bigboys/girls. Anyway~be sure to grab your tea or coffee because you'll be there a while.. Home Brewed Environmentally Friendly Black Walnut Ink ~ Wise Plants Assorted Animal Print Cupcake Liners~ Cupcake Social Custom Blog and one year domain hosting ~ IceBerg Hosting Louet Victoria Spinning Wheel ~ Stitch Cleveland is Spinning Red Sponge Coral cubes ~ Mia Bella Collection Recycled Steel Firepit ~ John T Unger Studio Tussah silk for soap making ~ TOG Soap Mold & Soap Tools

I hope each one of you had a wondrous Easter holiday~ we certainly did. We celebrated Sunday with family and food (what else?) Turkey dinner with everyone~almost everyone~ together at my sisters house. I kinda like my family..is it okay to say that? Now the eggs and peeps..my personal favorite.. are eaten, the boy is eager for school (although he'd never admit that) and the laundry is in piles around my house..both clean that didn't make it to the drawers and now dirty.. damn maid! And I've got orders to work on. SO my day is pretty much planned out..what are you all doing?

I suppose you've all heard of Artfire by now~ at least those of you in the handmade product field. I'm usually the skeptic sitting on the fence waiting to see how it will go down before I jump in. It seems to be that all is good..there are no selling fees!~ at least not yet~ Listing products is a snap..check. Store front looks good..check. Artfire submits your listings automatically to google base..that's nice. I like what I see so far~I'm not sure that they have the reach yet that Etsy does, but I'll give them a try for a couple of weeks. It's really hard to beat the no fees thing.. Visit sweetwaterdesigns's ArtFire Shop

Both red and pink denote love but while red is hot passion, pink is romantic and charming. Use pink to convey playfulness (hot pink flamingoes) and tenderness (pastel pinks). Multiple shades of pink and light purple or other pastels used together maintain the soft, delicate, and playful nature of pink. Add strength with darker shades of pinks and purple and burgundy. ~ About.com While I'm not usually a pink girl I do have my moods and this bubblegum pink from Bulls Eye is just too luscious to be ignored.

Congratulations to Split Rock Ranch , the winner of 1000 Entrecard credits! I used the site, Random to generate the winners name... another great site to bookmark. Thank you all for dropping by and having some fun ~ its interesting to read what we're all up to in our various corners of the universe. Take care of yourself Rose! and Sandy as well~ it's very draining when someone we love is in the hospital. Split Rock, talk of your dye pots are making me salivate :) I had to go and see what that might look like... this one is eye popping gorgeous ♥ I grew up on a cattle ranch so I have some idea of what you with your baby kids are going through..exciting time of year when you live on a farm or ranch though, isn't it? I hope you had a sweet anniversary celebration tulips!... and I'm wondering what sort of loving nastiness your parents enjoyed this morning creative queen?? :D It's the one day my kids can lie to me and get away with it ~of course I believe nothing out o