Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving Day.  Enjoy your turkey and tofurkey.  May you have even more things to be thankful for in the years to come.  And if you are thinking about shopping  :)   be sure to check out my Etsy Shop and use the coupon code THANKS2011 to get 15% off everything in my shop from now through the end of Cyber Monday on 11/28/2011.  If you shop there, you won't have to stay outside all night in a tent waiting to get in, and everything is made in the USA (by me).  Enjoy!

Double Strand Cream Pearl Necklace

I'm always a fan of pearl beads, and creamy white pearls are a classic.  Here I've taken creamy white 12mm glass pearl beads from Auntie's Beads and strung them into a double strand necklace.  Each strand has a similar, but different, pattern.   I like the color of the metallic gold iris bugle beads that provide a nice foil to the cream color of the pearls. 

Carved Jade with Carnelian

I picked up carved antique jade beads and faceted carnelian briolettes at two different occasions at two different shops.  It took me a while to decide what to do with them, but you see I have put them together into earrings.

I like these two colors together -- the brown and the orange.  I also think the shapes of square and teardrop look nice together also.

Colors of Autumn

I find myself staring at the colors of trees lately.  Fiery reds, golden yellow, greenish bronze, such a lovely combination of colors.  West Goshen Park is a wonderful park for a walk, and there are some very nice colors there now.  I took these photos on the cloudless day after our Halloween snow.  I think the color of the sky looks like someone painted it. You should be able to see the full sized photos if you click on them.

The sun is much lower now, and I often see it peeking through the tree leaves.  This tree has a lovely shade of burgundy in it.  I have to enjoy my autumn walks now as it will soon be too cold to venture out for many activities.  Happy Fall, everyone!

Collage Bracelet

This was interesting and different for me.  The metal framework of the bracelet came as one piece.  I was accustomed to purchasing individual bezels, and assembling them myself, but I wanted to experiment with this one.  Then, instead of pouring resin into the bezels, I purchased clear resin domes.   These must have been made in a mold.  If I poured the resin myself straight into the bezels, I would not get such high domes.  I created my own "scrapbook paper" digitally using shades of ivory, plum and turquoise.  I prefer making my own as compared to finding something I like at the craft store. 

Although I am pleased with the way it looks, I don't think I'll go with the bezel bracelet blank again.  It is a much more costly finding than using the individual bezel blanks, and the resin domes are costly also.  When one is making items for resale, one has to think of the non-crafting buyer, who might not understand the cost of supplies.   I definitely plan to continue making my own scrapbook paper.  I like using my own colors and designs.  I never seem to find anything I like at the craft store.  And since I make it digitally, I know I can always print more, and not worry about the store running out of stock.