Goodie Bag Arrived from Rings and Things!!!!

I love surprises, especially when it comes in the form of "anything" I can make jewelry out of!  Today, I received my goodie bag from Rings and Things from their March drawing..

 I've been watching the mailbox for a week now.........

 and it finally came today!

After ripping the package open because my scissors weren't where they were suppose to be (am I the only one who can never find scissors in the house when you need them), I was tickled pink to find some pretty cool things I can play around with, give away and review.  I've just been looking at them this evening, trying to think up something fun but I just had to share what was inside...

For starters there were some pretty cool wood charm filligree pendants.  They are very light, and I can definitely see them in a summer design. Something light and airey. 

Next up, were these gorgeous antiqued copper plated findings... and look another button for me to play with! The apple blossom button is a little too cute, and the toggle is beautiful. With the price of silver these days, I may have to consider a few alternative metals for a while, and I'm kinda liking these.

These were cute too, I love the copper pearled accent bead on these french hook earrings. The metal is black/antiqued copper plate..another interesting find.  The wire is pretty hard, definitely not flimsy.  Another great alternative for cutting prices right now or for some great budget priced earrings... 

And last but not least...my favorites are these strawberry glass beads!  Okay, so they probably will never make it to my shop window, BUT won't they be fun to wear this summer.  They'd make a cute pair of whimsical earrings or go great in a bracelet or necklace. 

So, right brain-left brain will have to started thinking of something to do with these goodies. I haven't decided yet, just which pieces I'll be keeping to make something nifty out of, but once I do, you'll be the first to know and what I don't keep, I'll be sharing with you!

Disclaimer:  I am a Blog Partner with Rings and Things.  As a partner, I may sometimes win special give-away's to be used at my own discretion or receive product to be reviewed. Neither I as a person or Runako Designs as a business receives any compensation through this partnership. Any reviews of product received are my personal opinion.  

Design on a Dime and Very Little Time...

It just wouldn't have felt right if I had been all prepared this past Saturday for a Black and White charity event.  The only thing that was a definite at 10am Saturday morning was a black and white dress I purchased weeks ago.  With little time to shop and a 2:00 pm soccer game, I was on a mission for shoes, jewelry, and everything in between like the start up of the Final Four at 6:00 pm!

Back home by 4:00 pm, I had 3 hours to wash hair, shower, make a jewelry set with some beads I picked up at Michael's, get dressed between running back and forth to watch the game and head out the door by 7:00 pm!  Lucky me, left brain and right brain had been working together all day and I whipped this set up in 45 minutes flat.... 

Budget beads from Michaels $10.99

Evening with friends for a good Cause...priceless!

Unveiling on a budget,

Rings and Things Design Challenge!!

I love a good challenge, and hopefully you do too!!  Rings and Things is having a design challenge featuring these beatiful brush copper beads. Visit their blog for more information and to enter!

Unveiling in challenge,

I'm At It Again.....

For those of you who really know me, you know that I can't keep still for long before I'm trying something new.  I'll try anything once, doesn't mean I have to like it or stick with it, but I'm adventurous and I will give it my best shot!

This weekend, I was in Carytown on a special mission (I'll be posting about that later) a popular area here in town.  Carytown is home to many interesting things, such as our Annual Watermelon Festival, antique shops, ecclectic boutiques, one of a kind shops, vintage shops, jewelry stores, consignment shops, pet stores, restaurants, bead stores and so much more.  It's the one place I always visit during Christmas, to find one of a kind unique gifts.

Typically, parking is a bear on a Saturday afternoon, but luck would have it, I found a spot directly in front of a little shop - "All Fired Up".  Well, curiosity got the best of me of course, because all I could see was color peeking out the little shop window at me, calling my name..."Dee, come see".  Naturally, I went in, what else was a girl to do? 

Inside was wall to wall ceramic EVERYTHING! It was a paint your own ceramic studio, with dishes, cups, coasters, animals, houses, fish, ornaments, you name it, they had it. I didn't know where to start looking, my eyes were shifting every which way they could.  But, then something said "stop...hold up...wait one minute"!  There was a little angel that had dropped by to remind me of all the decluttering I had just done! (we all remember this post, don't we?)  It was just as I was about to turn around and walk out, that something caught my eye....

 Directly in front of me was a bookstand full of not ceramic, but glass.  And over to the far right of that little bookstand was a little cubbie, holding something near and dear to my heart...a pendant (I say with a smile), not clutter, not something without a match, but a pendant..and now I was ready to ask tons of questions before my twelve o'clock appointment! After ten minutes of me firing questions and the shop attendant, happily answering, I was prepared to return in a couple of hours to make my first Fused Glass Pendant!

Two hours later I was back with sleeves rolled up and ready to go. Mind you..I had a camera in my purse that I was all worked up about taking pictures with for this post, BUT I got so caught up in the moment, I totally forgot to take my own photos.  The photos you see here are from the All Fired Up website, but I will be returning and I will take my own pictures next time. 

After arming me with all the essentials such as my base glass, my selected color glass (which I changed three times), a bucket of left over glass, glass powder, glass noodles,glass tubes, liquid glass, glue, cutting tools, marker, tray, table, chair and instructions, I was left alone to do some major damage.

(obviously, this is not me working on a pendant, but gives you an idea of the set up and the glass)

 Just a note to anyone thinking about giving this a shot..powdered glass, may look like powder, but it's still glass. My fingers can attest to that after my little sprinking ordeal. 

After an hour of glass flying on the floor, crocked cuts, and several design changes, my project was complete and ready to be fired. It is at this point that the nice ladies, come take your pice, label it, ring up your craft, and give you a return date to pick up.  If I know best, I'm certain they'll perform some magic behind the scenes to it (like straighten it up) , fire it up in the kiln and make it look really pretty!

So now I wait...10 DAYS!!!  But oh no, I won't just wait.  In the meantime, I've already been researching on line, perfecting the cuts in my mind, watching videos and reading, I'll be drawing up a design and planning my colors, because when I go back...I'm doing it all over again, but this time in style!!

This is a really cool glass pendant from Into The Lights Studio from Etsy, just to give you an idea of the possibilities if you aren't familiar with fused glass.  Mine will in no way turn out like this in 10 days, but I have a feeling I won't be giving up so easily on this project.

Unveiling something different,

Runako Designs - Now available in EIGHT languages!!

Curiosity sometimes doesn't really kill the cat - I know because I'm a very curious cat if you don't already know that!

You probably already know that I'm participating in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Party- right?  And you probably know that I already received my soup mix - right?  And you know my partner is Erin Siegal -  right?  And you know that Erin received her bead mix from me - right?  And you know the reveal is in two weeks - right?  And if you have no idea what I'm talking about click here for an update.

Well, what you didn't probably know is that the Soup Party is open to anyone with an established blog, anywhere in the country! I already know from my google statistics, that I get visitors from all over the world and I've had a few wonderful people who have followed me recently, and I can probably guess they've come from Lori's Party list.  Aaaannnd - being the friendly, networking type of person that I am, I've also visited their blogs to return the hospitality.  What I've found in my cruisings are some wonderful, creative new friends, to network and learn with.  HOWEVER; stupid me, what I didn't count on was running across a blog that I couldn't read because of a language barrier...go figure...any blog, anywhere in the world, who would have thought, right?  And I'm certain some have thought the same thing as they've run across an English written blog. 

Well, curious cat here (waving hands) - I just couldn't take it anymore, I had to include these people in my network, and I had to figure out how to understand what they were writing about - Google to the rescue! 

Thanks to Digital Inspiration I was able to figure out how to add a translation widget to my blog (see above)...actually I've added two for the moment.  I haven't quite decided which one I like the most.   

My hopes is that as more visitors from foreign countries visit my blog, they'll return and become friends if they see that there is a way they can actually read it.  My second hope is that Lori will share this with all the party participants who's blog may be in a different language and they'll add the widget to their blogs and so on, and so on and so on! Wouldn't it be great, blogging with no limitations?   

I just love happy endings... don't you?  So, if you have a blog and would like to make it more readable for others who may not speak English, I hope this little infomercial has been helpful to you.  No need to thank me, just keep coming back. 

Unveiling in 8 languages,

Dee

Best of Bead Award - Kazuri Contest!!

My passions run deep when it comes to helping and giving back, and many of you already know that.  You also know that one of my favorite beads to work with among so many other choices are the Kazuri beads from Kenya.  Not only does my purchase of these beads help so many women and a few men, but they are just gorgeous beads.  The color choices and designs that these women create represent all the beautiful colors of Africa and more!  Anything that's about changing lives and empowering others to make their dreams come true, I find hard to resist.  

Kazuri is looking for designs to add to their 2010 line and is holding their first Best of Bead Award.  They are looking for new design ideas for their  Pita Pat beads. The Pita Pat bead is one of their most popular selling beads, and even I would be honored to come up with a design that would circulate the world...wow..big thought eh? (Pita Pat earrings to the right)  So, what do you need to do?  

Visit the Jambo Newsletter here at Turtle Neck Jewelry for complete details on the contest. (scroll down to last article)  There is a $100 gift certificate award for the winner towards your next Kazuri purchase and like I said above, your design will be seen all over the world...literally!  

So, what are you waiting for?  Click here for complete details on the contest. Deadline for entries is April 30th. 

Feel free to spread the word, lets do our part to keep the Kazuri designs fresh and exciting!  If you blog about this entry, or post the link on Facebook, let me know and I'll put your name into a drawing for a pair of Pita Pat earrings. Drawing to be held April 30th! 

Unveiling and drawing,
Dee

A Package....For Me??

My oh my, what could it be that the post man has delivered so pretty to me? I received my bead soup exchange package in the mail today from Lori Anderson. Lori's my exchange partner and she is putting me up to a beautiful challenge. Ooops, I forgot to photograph the clasps..lets make that a surprise :)
The Bead Soup Swap that I'm participating in is being sponsored by Lori over at Pretty Things. Many jewelry makers will be receiving packages this week packed with odds and ends of pretty things, to challenge their creativity of coming up with some sparkling designs. The Swap will officially take place February 10th, when all participants will post their designs on their blogs for the world to see.

You can start your travels at Pretty Things on the 10th if you're mighty curious and from there let your fingers explore the many blogs participating and allow the eye candy to take you away to the land of beads and baubles.

Unveiling in surprises,

You can find more of my jewelry on my website at Runako Designs

I'm Claiming it..So It Must be Mine!

I'm a true believer in that you will never get better, move ahead or grow, if you don't take some chances, step outside of your comfort zone and make some real "firsts". Goodness knows, I've challenged myself the past few years with a few things that have taken me outside of my comfort zone, like Toastmasters, Teaching classes, singing in the church choir...okay, that didn't last long, but only because of my schedule?? My point is.... with each new thing I challenge myself with, I've gotten better.

I remember my first craft show, now that was a real hoot! It was a very small one, mind you, but it was my first. It was a combination craft show/yard sale and it cost me $25.00! I had nothing, but a cd rack, some baskets, homemade props and some crooked table covering as you can see!!

Now... before you start laughing, I must tell you something about this show, not only was it my first, but I've continued to participate in this same show for the past three years, twice a year. Why? Because the proceeds benefit Relay for Life, I've done some great networking here, the customers from this show were my first test market outside of family and friends and the customers from this show are the ones who convinced me that I was on the right track with my jewelry designs. My show display has much improved over the years, and it's still a work in progress. I try to remain very humble in my business and keeping these photos around helps me to remember where I came from and who helped me get here.

So, why am I talking to you about firsts you're probably wondering. Well, today I entered my first Juried show! I've entered others that have requested photos of my pieces and called themselves juried shows, but I put them in a different category. Today I had to actually deliver 5 pieces to the committee location with resume and descriptions....Now that's a FIRST! I had to step it up a notch by adding a few new design originals that showed my capabilities and used different mediums. This local show only opens up to a few new artists every year, so I was pleased to have been selected to even submit my samples.

Now, am I excited, absolutely! but am I humble? You better believe it! If I get into this show, I'll be happier than a runaway pig, and I'll definitely be challenged to take my designs to a different level by October. If I don't make it this year, I'll definitely be applying again next year and to a few others, because I'm ready to take it to the next level and I've already claimed my spot in somebody's Juried show, and I'm not giving up until I make it! And after that....there will be another first somewhere waiting!

Think about a first you've been waiting to take on? challenge yourself over the next couple of months and JUST DO IT!!

Unveiling,
Dee
Visit Dee's jewelry website for more original designs.

I Interrupt this Tea Party....Watch Me Create!

I do hate to interrupt this lovely party, but I must do so for only a brief moment, so please pardon the station break .......My latest article has been published over at Watch Me Create. I've been struggling for sometime with figuring out what to do with a lovely Kazuri pendant I purchased sometime ago, so I decided to put the pressure on myself by documenting it's development. View the article and come back for part II.

Okay..."do carry on with the party..."oh look!... the tea cup ride is working again...come now, hurry, hurry, the party mussint wait any longer!!"