Happy Halloween!!

Can you believe that it's already October 31? Christmas will be here really quick.

I was accepted and approved for my new shop on 1000 Markets. Make sure to check my first blog post and jewelry over there: http://glassmenagerie1.1000markets.com/.

I finished a pink bangle last night. It is the same pattern as the brown and gold one shown below, but it is amazing that they are so different. The brown/gold one is so elegant, and the pink one is so feminine and cute. It's amazing what colors do together. I love planning and creating each piece.

I'm excited about this weekend. Saturday, going to go gambling and on Sunday, we will be celebrating my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! Have a great and safe Halloween weekend. I will talk with you soon.

Wondrous Wednesday

Another Featured Artist

This wonderfully creative artist gave me permission to use her mini etsy on the blog, and as I was looking through them again, (thinking its time to change them) I spotted this darling necklace. What a fun way to dress up Christmas, and you can find it at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16728478. In her Etsy profile, it says “I'm a mom with 2 little kids under 5 living at home & when I'm not working as a freelance toydesigner I'm making stuff for family, friends, & my humble etsy shop! The things I create are very personal...I make what I love...& hope you love it too!” Her creations look like fun, and she sounds like fun. If we were closer, I would love to meet in person. Make sure to go explore the very ingenious things she comes up with.

Monday night was bingo, and I didn’t win, but my partner did, so our winning streak is unbroken (except we can’t pay the bills on the winnings). I finished a bracelet last night while watching Biggest Loser. Is anyone addicted to this show too? Before you think, I’m a TV junkie (I am a little), it’s mostly background noise while I bead, but I do have my favorites. Anyway, back to the bracelet. It is similar to the brown one, but in blue. I have to get them listed.

Make sure you take a look at the Etsy mini’s featured in October. I will be changing them soon for November. If you are interested in putting one up, leave a comment and I will get back to you. Please understand that if the response is big (it was last time), there may be carryover to another month.

Marvelous Monday

Can you believe that Halloween is Friday already, and the time change happens this coming weekend. Yeah - an extra hour of sleep. The weekend was good. It was great seeing my brother-in-law, and would have been better if I didn't get sick again on Saturday. This darn virus just keeps holding on.

I finished a new bracelet, and am excited how the design turned out. It is in browns and uses a double spiral and cubes with Swarovski crystals. I will list it soon, so you can let me know what you think. As you can see by my newest additions (above), the tortoise bangle has been listed. I only wish you could see it in person, it is really rich looking.

This is a reminder that if you twitter, so do I, and I always follow back - so follow me: http://twitter.com/glassmenagerie1. If you don't twitter, you should join in. You will be addicted instantly.

Featured Friday Artist (and updates)

I saw this listing and it almost made me want another baby. But seriously, why wasn't all this neat stuff around when I had my son. Okay, I'll answer that - because he is almost 21 years old. But back to my Friday Featured Artist.

The above order can be specialized just for you by ThisGirlsDesigns http://thisgirlsdesigns.etsy.com/. She states in her profile: "My favorite hobby / pastime is Graphic Design- whether I'm making custom orders for people, creating new designs, or something for myself, family or friends, I am always sure to be letting my creativity run wild!" And she loves custom work.

I truly love this idea, take the pressure off the new mommy and get those announcements out to friends and family. She also has many other really neat ideas in her shop, so jump on over and check them out. (I also like the card for any occassion).

On a personal side, my brother-in-law will be in from Atlanta this weekend which should be fun, but I still have to fit beading in. Through the boards on Etsy, I heard about another marketing site called PlumDrop, but it seems to be down now. I'll post my link there and tell you all about it this weekend. I'm still working on my 1000 Markets site. I hope to add all these links soon.

I finished a beautiful bangle bracelet, and also want to get that listed. I'm telling you, if I could just quit my day job, I could get so much more done. However on the flip side, my bead supply money might dry up, and the bills might suffer a little. Have a great Friday, and I'll talk to you this weekend. I just realized its time to change the mini's too.

Happy Monday?

Wow - over a week since I've blogged. I really need to get into a routine here.

As you can see, new pieces have been listed, and the black and crystal Swarovski bracelet will be in the Mary Engelbreight Home Companion ad for December/January. It should be for sale right about now. I'm really interested to see if it brings more exposure.

I had a lot of fun designing the watches and the Victorian looking one is just beautiful. It really does not show the gorgeous colors on the screen. (I had help putting the colors together). I just love the indian red Swarovski. So much a fall color.

I have signed up for Twitter. Please follow me. I follow back. It's really fun to mini blog. http://twitter.com/glassmenagerie1.

My next plan is to finish getting my 1000 markets account set up. I'll post the url as soon its done. I keep hearing about not putting your eggs in one basket. But with working 45 hours a week, making jewelry and marketing, I'm not sure how much more thin I can be spread. As it is right now, I'm hoping to get in for a strep test today.

I promise to see you soon.

Friday Happenings

Happy Friday! As you can see I have listed a few new items. The pointsetta earrings go with the pointsetta bracelet. I'm trying to get more pieces together and my first show is November 15. The purple Swarovski bracelet is so delicate and beautiful. I'm going to see if I can design some earring for it tonight.

It's been a busy week and I haven't blogged like I should have. Monday was bingo night and I won three games, but they were all split pots. It was fun and exciting anyway. Work was extremely busy this week with the new case, and I'm happy the weekend is here. Except I got a kidney stone last night and took the day off. Here's hoping it passes quickly. Tomorrow is homecoming at my son's college, so we are going up there for the game. The weather is supposed to be beautiful.

I still have a new featured artist to post. Hoping to get to that one soon. I also joined Twitter, but haven't quite got the hang of it yet. I'm also glassmenagerie1 over there, so if your on Twitter, let me know.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fire and Ice

The photo above shows my newest work. The fire opal and crystal Swarovskis just play off of each other and creates the perfect bracelet for fall. It is even better in person, from the red to orange to yellow of the fire opals. There are 85 Swarovski's in this bracelet. Wear your sunglasses when you wear this one! I think they have become my favorite crystal to work with as the possiblities are endless.

I also added my Swarovski red puffy heart today. It was so much fun to make. The puffy heart uses 72 Swarovski bicones, and I added the liquid silver sterling bead with 3mm round sterling beads for the chain. Very pretty way to set off this sparkly heart.

I have been featured on a a very talented artists blog. I will feature her this week, but make sure to check it out now: http://azramomin.blogspot.com.

We went to a craft show yesterday to look around. There are some really great handmade items being shown this year. If you haven't been lately, or want to see the newest items for this year, go support your local artists or shop from home on Etsy. I'm amazed at the creativity of people.

I hope your weekend is going well. Enjoy the rest of it, and I will talk to you later.

Softpencil Featured Artist Thursday

When I asked artists at Etsy to share their "mini etsy" on my blog, Elizabeth was kind enough to share hers with me. I have to say that I love her work. Look at the colors and details in the above image. "My works are a homage to the Nature and to the beauty of their creatures, where a simple flower or a fragile animal become absolute protagonists. I wish you enjoy them!" is a statement taken from her profile, and it really reflects her work.

You can find SoftPencil's work on etsy at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5828592, or on her website at: www.elizabethpujalka.50megs.com.

On a side note, I know that there was supposed to be a featured artist yesterday, but time just ran away from me. My day job is a legal assistant and we got a new client that had to have a lot of work done yesterday and I worked late. I know that I should not make promises that can't be kept, so the decision has been made to just blog at least every other day, and to do one feature a week. I really enjoy the features, since I get to explore new artists and learn about them.

Glass Menagerie (me) has been invited to a private home show on November 15. It is for a charitable cause and should have a great turnout.
Also, the Halloween bracelet sold last night on Etsy. This was exciting as it lets me know that the shop is getting noticed. My first sale was by word of mouth, but this one came out of the blue. Thank you so much to my buyer, and here's hoping for many more. I relisted the bracelet because the buyer did a custom order for a difference size. So if you like this bracelet (see previous post), nows the time to buy it. After Halloween, it will be gone.

Grey's is on tonight, lets hope it's better then last week. Have a great Thursday!