Wednesday, August 27, 2008

First place winner!!

My bridal necklace "Wedding Bells" won first place in the bead-patterns.com wedding themed beading contest! A BIG thanks to everyone who voted!

To celebrate, I'll be hosting a giveaway of some sort in September. I haven't decided WHAT to give away just yet. Feel free to vote for what YOU would want to win in the poll on the left, and stay tuned for details.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Featured Artist - My husband!

As some of you may or may not know, I recently married the man of my dreams, Gregory L. DiCioccio II. He's a perfect balance of hard and soft, with creativity oozing out of him...it makes it's way into everything he does.
Greg is a surrealistic artist, who discovered his love (and talent) for painting when he was 28. His appreciation for Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, and Alex Gray are apparent in his paintings, while he has a style all his own. His childlike imagination and use of colorful palates invoke happy feelings and smiles in all that see his paintings. Not yet well known in the corporate art world, Greg is humble...grateful for all kind words (or even criticisms) that visitors may have.

His most recent work "On a Thread" really hits home for me, because, well, I'm in the painting! I've been immortalized half naked on a canvas. I'm not sure it's quite sunk in yet...my family in 200 years will be looking at that saying, "That's my great, great, great, great grandma"! Lol.


I've been encouraging Greg to make a professional portfolio for some time now, and hopefully this fall we can bring that to fruition. In the meantime, feel free to check out his Artbreak Portfolio.


Don't hesitate to tell Greg what you think, he'd love to hear from you. And if you're interested in purchasing a painting, he'd REALLY love to hear from you.


Here's "On A Thread". Let me tell ya, taking the real photos for what would be the painting was fun!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The meme game

Anna of A Rose By Name has tagged me with this interesting meme.
This is my second "tagging" in a week so I'm a little excited.

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules
3. Tell six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six bloggers by linking.
5. Leave a comment for each blogger.

OK, here goes...
1. Laughably enough, Anna and I have one of the same "quirks". I ALSO have to make sure butter or jam or peanut butter covers the entire slice of bread, all the way up to the corners. Can't have a dry bite now, can we!? My lovely husband learned this very early on in the relationship, lucky for me. =)

2. I have a thing for triangles. I have to fold my napkin/paper towel into a triangle, and it bothers me when I can't do it perfectly (damn select-a-size rectangles).
I also cut my sandwiches into triangle pieces. I got this from my grandpa who used to make me banana sandwhiches when I was little and cut them this way. When eating slices of cheese I also fold them into little triangle pieces.

3. I refuse to wear uncomfortable shoes. Absolutely no high heel pumps. Those things are awful and frankly, I don't know how women do it.

4. I have a problem with starting one project and finishing it before starting another one. Not to say I don't finish it, I just tend to have 6 or 7 ( or 8) things going at a time.

5. I don't like the phone. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's becuase you can't see the persons body language when they're speaking...but I like to keep my conversations short and sweet. I like talking to people, but just face to face. Or email...which yes you still can't see their body language but at least you have time to think about an appropriate response.

6. A lot of people talk in their sleep but apparently I hold conversations in my sleep. I've been told by my husband that I will ask random questions in the middle of the night, he'll respond thinking I'm awake, and then I'll respond to what he said. In the morning he tells me about it and I haven't a clue what he's talking about.

Now I have to pass this meme along to other bloggers and I choose:
1. Time2Cre8
2. Decadence
3. Michon Jewelry
4. Thyme2dream
5. Catherinette Rings
6. Ragamufyn

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Winner of EBW "Art Deco" challenge announced

Congratulations to GemsbyJules, who won the "Art Deco" challenge with her beautiful bracelet Search Light!

The runners up are:
Art Deco Collar - HighDesertBeadscapes
Purple Graces - triz17. A Salute To Art Deco - wMarlaine
Art Deco Cuff - Savoy Studio
Thanks to everyone who voted, and congratulations everyone for a job well done!
The next challenge is 'Complementary Contradictions' and entries are due in Sept. 5th, voting begins Sept. 7th.
I have yet to begin beading for it, but I do have an idea in my head. Lets see if it takes flight (and if I can get it finished before the deadline)!


Sunday, August 17, 2008

All We are Saying, is Give Peace a Chance

Peace signs aren't just for hippies anymore!


In case you were wondering, the peace sign originates from the Semaphore flag positions, "N" & "D", standing for nuclear dissarmorment.


I actually started this bracelet last weekend and ran out of the gray beads. Not making sure you have enough beads to finish your project before you begin, I should add that to the "B.A.D.D." symptoms. The delica gray beads are actually metallic matte, rhodium plated. Having started the project just going into my beads and saying "oh this is a nice color" and grabbing my precious vial, I didn't realize that they were so expensive. I almost crapped a brick when I saw artbeads.com had them priced at $15 something for 8g. But alas, they have cheap priority shipping (and free shipping too, which usually takes 5-7 days for me)

If this bracelet was not too big for me, I'm damn sure I'd be keeping it. It's 7-1/2", a pretty standard size. I've got tiny wrists...which may sound nice to some people but it's not so nice when bracelets and watches fall off your hand!

It measures almost 1-1/2" across, and is woven in 2-drop peyote stitch. In addition to the metallic matte rhodium plated beads, I used a combination of silver lined, and ceylon finish delicas. They really stand out in the gray background. The clasp is a sterling silver slide clasp, with a nice "click" to it, locks in nice. It's surprisingly light, and extremely comfortble. I'm pretty sure whoever end up with this one is going to be a happy camper!


















Friday, August 15, 2008

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by LuckyGirlTrading.
Spread the Blog Love and Share this tag! Today I'm tagging Thyme2dream, Soap Sushi. Beadalicious, Inspired Jewelry and RavenWorks Jewelry
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(Pls. don't remove) Credits: Elements/Paper by Dani Mogstad/ Layout by JennyL
Rules:
1. Don't remove the credits when you post the image
2. Please link back to the person who tagged you and pass this tag to many of your friends
3. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.
4. Remember to go to A SLICE OF LIFE (pls. don't change this link) and leave the exact post url so she can add you to the master list to help increase our rankings and improve our Technorati Authority.
5. Spread the BLOG LOVE FEVER!!BLOGGERS:

1.Jenny Said So 2.) Simply Jen 3.) This and That 4.) Bargain.Sales.Deals. 5. A Slice of Life 6.) Aussie Talks 7. When Mom Talks 8. Mommy Talks 9 Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps 10 All Kinds of Me Stuff 11 The Salad Caper 12. Winding Creek Circle 13. InkBabyStudios 14. Me and Mine 15. Creative in Me 16. For the LOVE of Food 17. Little Peanut 18. Pea in a Pod 19. It’s Where the HEART Is 20. Around the World 21. SugarMagnolias 22. Nita's Random Thoughts 23. Nita's Corner 24. Nita's Ramblings 25. Batuananons 26. Thomas Web Links 27. Filipino Online Community 28. Thomas Travel Tales 29. Bohol Paradise 30. My Wandering Thoughts 31. Arts and Entertainment Center 32. Great Finds and Deals 33. Make Money Online 34. Entertainment News and Beyond 35. Erlinda's Wandering Thoughts 36. TnT Kit 37. Aha Mama! 38. A Zone for Digiscraps 39. RazorianFly :] 40. WebGeek Journal… 41.All About The Memories 42. Spymama 43. Alamak OiOi 44. HasH's Personal Blog 45. MommyAllehs Up-Close and Personal 46. All About Kawaii 47. My Photographic Sketch 48. Embrace Simplicity 49.WilStop 50. Fun.Fierce.Fabulous 51. Kidd Designs 52. Me,Myself+2 53. Anygen's Journey 54. Ultimate Food Cooking Guide 55. Make Every Day Your Lucky Day 56. Unique You

YOUR BLOG HERE
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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Do YOU have B.A.D.D.?

B.A.D.D. (Beading Attention Deficit Disorder)

Do you have clusters of beads grouped together in piles because you think they will go well together in a project?

Do you have half-strung jewelry on beadboards, waiting to be finished?

Do you have velour beading mats stacked upon one another, each with a layer of beads from miscellaneous projects underneath?

Do you leave needles attached to your bead weaving projects so that when you get back to them you don’t have to go needle-hunting?

When walking from a carpeted area to a hardwood floor with bare feet, do you inevitably hear the *clickety-click* of seed beads bouncing across the floor?

Do you have several project areas in your house, perhaps your kitchen table, or your living room coffee table that always seem to be occupied by beads?

Do you stop working on a project mid-production, because you are suddenly inspired to make something completely different?

Are spools of thread and jars of beads scattered throughout your house, so you can be ready when inspiration strikes…or perhaps you haven’t put away materials from your last project?

Do you have various bags/jars of “bead soup”…beads that you don’t feel like putting away after completing a project, so your pour them into one container, thinking you’ll use them for another project?

Do you have lots of “experimental bead samples”… beading projects that never quite made it into anything but were too nice to just throw away?


If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, YOU may have B.A.D.D.
At this time there are no known treatments, although studies suggest regular organizing of beads and bead supplies may keep your B.A.D.D. symptoms at bay. Be forewarned, however, that organizing of beads can cause you to find long lost beads, sparking spontaneous inspiration, thus becoming counter-productive.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A word about my "dropping" style

About a month ago, I stumbled upon Entrecard through a fellow beaders blog. Entrecard is a network where you "drop" your card on another Entrecard users blog. You get 1 credit for each card you drop, with a maximum of 300 drops per day. The user then sees that you have dropped your card in their inbox on the Entrecard site. You also get 1 credit for every card dropped on your blog. You can then use these credits to advertise on fellow Entrecard bloggers. Its a great way to get traffic to your site, but then again, the traffic is questionable. Most of the people are just looking to get credits, so they drop their card and leave, never taking in any of the content of your site. There is even an Entrecard batch generator available (not through Entrecard itself) where you click on 1 button and 10 Entrecard sites pop up. You drop your cards, and move on to button 2 where 10 new sites pop up...and so on and so forth.

Do I try and reach 300 cards a day? Yup. I don't always get there, but I try.
Now, for all the Entrecard users out there I want to tell you a little bit about my dropping style.

The first place I go is my inbox, and drop on all the people that have dropped on me that day, and the day prior. Although I don't have one of those "you drop, I follow" banners, I try to reciprocate the dropping love. Next I visit my "top droppers" and make sure I've dropped my card there. Next I will peruse through my favorite categories and drop on any cards that draw me in...ones I've dropped on before mostly. I usually read the latest post in the blog and if the article is intriguing enough I'll comment.
If after all this, I still have more to go to reach 300, I'll use the entrecard generator. I admit it. And mostly, I drop and run. A lot of the sites that pop up from this generator are about making money online. While the notion is nice, it's just not where I wish to focus my energy. I use the generator purely for "topping up" as it were.
So Entrecard droppers, know that If you drop here, I'll drop you back.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Voting now open for bead-patterns.com "Wedding" beading contest

How lovely of http://www.bead-patterns.com/ to host a "Wedding" themed beading contest the summer that I get married! Somewhere in between sending invitations and finding the perfect wines for the big day I managed to weave a necklace that I hope will become a family heirloom.


I entered my bridal necklace "Wedding Bells", I hope you like it, and I hope even more that you like it enough to vote for me.



Click to see all entries:





Saturday, August 9, 2008

Etsy Bead Weavers Challenge - Art Deco

I am proud to be a part of the Etsy Bead Weavers Street Team, a group of beaders who share ideas and inspiration with each other. Every month, a themed beading "challenge" is presented to the group. The winner of the previous challenge gets to pick the theme for the next one. This months theme is "Art Deco". Although I personally did not have the opportunity to create something specifically for the challenge, I invite you to review all the beautiful entries and vote for your favorite. It is always a hard choice, there are so many talented beaders in this group...

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Treasury Finds

Unfortunately, I cannot access the Etsy treasuries at my day job (silly firewalls, pffft), and don't always have the time to peruse through them when I get home. Things like dinner...hooping and of course beading take up much of my spare time. However, I DID find myself in a treasury this evening, a welcome surprise to be sure. It's called "My abaloney has a first name", quite a clever naming indeed!



























Please take some time to visit beadsandblooms shop, the treasury curator. They have some beautiful items in thier shop, like this Harlequin Art Deco Bracelet.

Back from vacation...and...link exchanges anyone?

I have just returned from my vacation and am back at my dayjob. How can a 6 day weekend go by faster than a 3 day work week? As refreshing as my time off was, it is always hard when reality slaps you back into the daily grind.


Anyone out there interested in doing a link exchange? My only request is that your site/blog be related to something crafty or artsy...beading, jewelry making, crafting, sewing, painting...anything like that. I'll post yours if you post mine. =)


Just leave a comment letting me know you've added my link to your site and I will return the favor. If you would like me to use a picture banner for your link please include in your comment where I can find the pic you would like to use, and please use my entrecard banner to link to my site. You can find the code to link to my blog on the left hand side of this screen underneath the words "Grab my badge".
Here's to more blog traffic!!