Finally snagged a treasury! It's called "Ice is Nice." Also, eyespystudios was kind enough to include me in a treasury. Thanks, eyespystudios!

Snow day! It was only about 2 inches here but it's the first day off we've had for snow here in MD. Roomie and I took advantage of the day off and made Grandma's pizza from scratch, and holy crap! Boy, was it good! I felt so proud watching the dough rising by the fire. Maybe someday I will get a bread machine, to simplify the process a little.

I will use tonight for a little more beading. I am full and happy, so that should make for some good crafting energy!

The Golden Egg vol. 4

I t's Sunday again, friends, and today's Golden Egg is Miss Jennifer Lommers aka Jenlo262! I have the pleasure of owning one of her prints. She is an expressive painter whose style of abstraction never feels cold or calculating. Instead, her work is bursting with warmth and energy, and her color sense is impeccable and lively.I also love the freedom of her brush strokes and the thickness of the paint- how joyfully it reveals the hand of the artist. Enjoy!

Woot! I am now a newly minted member of the Baltimore Etsy Street Team! Learn a little about this team here, or have a looksie at the Flickr account here.

A big shout out to Marmalady for including my Marmalade Starflake in her treasury! Thanks!

Another thank you to my friend Brooke, who gave me some really fun beads for Christmas. I have made several new things with stuff she gave me. See if you can spot them, Brooke! I like the red ones so much that I am keeping them, and yes, they are one of a kind. They're so sinfully delicious that I named them the Lucifer earrings. The others are the Chrysanthemum necklace and the Plumeria earrings.

A huge thank you to objectsofaffection who featured my Seal Card on her blog! Do check out her site. She has some really cute photos and pendants! Thanks, Lani, you rock my socks!

So, it must be my lucky week! I have not one but three awesome people to thank for featuring my stuff in their treasuries! Without further ado, I wish to thank . . .

Perihan, for her charming lettuce-themed treasury,

Paisleykitty, for her sweet and sentimental treasury,

and Copperlily for her elegant lavender/honey treasury.

I also managed to finish three new necklaces! I hope to photograph them soon, probably on the weekend since daylight is hard to snag on weekdays lately.

I'd like to thank baconsquarefarm for including my napkin rings in her beautiful treasury! Have a peek!

The Golden Egg vol. 3

It's that time again, so my spotlight this week will be tqbdesigns. I admire this artist because of the incredible craftsmanship of her beadwork, the distinctive style of her designs, and the elegance and level of taste she so consistently displays. Jewelry with lots of tiny seed beads and ambitious technical achievement that is also cute and wearable isn't easy to find, but here are some fine examples!

Whew! I've been busy these last two days. The stupifying cold has driven me inside and the result is eight new handmade cards! I keep a sketchbook by my bedside in case I have an idea while trying to sleep, and I mined it for all it was worth! There seems to be a feathered trend in this bunch. Today I have photographed and edited them all so they are good to go for Etsy. Here's a sneak peek of five of them. See my Flickr page if you are curious about them all.

While Photoshopping my images I've been watching the Obama express on CNN all day and now the man himself is giving a speech in Baltimore! I'm so excited to watch all this unfold. I will be watching him get sworn in with my fourth graders on Tuesday. To those of you braving the crowds and the cold, good luck, and have fun!

Shecological was kind enough to feature me in a beautiful treasury! Check it out! Thank you, Shecological!

Just finished a pair of earrings and a necklace, have a gander. The earrings, which I have named the Ladyslipper Earrings, are made with copper wire, glass flower and leaf beads, little garnet rounds, a rose colored freshwater pearl, and a neat wooden bead. The necklace is made with fluorite, freshwater pearls, and rainbow fluorite. I confess that I am having trouble naming this one. Maybe my readers could help me out! Leave a comment if you have a nice name for my necklace. Neither of these are posted on Etsy yet, so there isn't tremendous urgency for this. Thanks!

The Golden Egg, vol 2

Greetings! It's time for the next installment of "The Golden Egg," and this week's featured artist will be sofiamasri, one of my favorite tile artisans on Etsy. Her work is exquisitely lovely and feminine,with soft colors and intricate details. She makes tiles from porcelain which she uses in jewelry. Her work strikes me as truly timeless, and will be beautiful regardless of trends. Do have a looksie!

YAY! YAY! I am SO excited! My Tree Snake Necklace was placed in a treasury so lovely that it made it to the front page of Etsy itself! Big thanks to Yalipaz for including me! She has really cute little fairies so you should check out her site. Here is a link to the treasury, which is still running in Treasury West.

The Golden Egg vol 1.

When I first stumbled on to Etsy I was enthralled, (in fact I went gaga) not yet as a seller, but as a shopper. Selling on Etsy of course leads to more shopping, and though I try to practice a measure of restraint, I continue to yearn for lots that I see. I thought it might be fun to make "The Golden Egg" a regular feature on this blog wherein I might spotlight a seller or item that tickles my fancy.

So, without further ado, my first Golden Egg will be Yellena! I chose her work because I am dazzled by her design sense- so many amazing textures, and I can't get enough of the way she uses simple lines to build such elegant, intricate images. I like undersea life in general, and some of her work reminds me of the bottom of some alien ocean. All this sophisticated imagery from markers and ink! Faboo. The pictures I've included are links to those items in her Etsy shop, so click on them if you want to see more. Happy shopping!

Snagged another treasury . . .

in the wee hours. Have a looksie!
Also made four new rings and part of a necklace- durned beads ran out when I was 3/4 through!

Here are some of the new things I've made recently!