Working Away...

It has been a productive week so far, I have made a bunch of new Charmed Pennies and Scrabble Tile Pendants, and just got a big order for acorns so I am off to torch today! When the customer called, I needed to take pictures of the acorns I had in stock, but had a computer glitch. Okay, so I was the computer glitch. I moved my printer and somehow disabled my network and internet...have no idea how I did that. So I had to take the pictures with my camera phone, I have to say I am impressed at the little camera, I think it did a great job!

A dresser Redo

This summer, we moved the kids bedrooms around, repainted and arranged, and in the process, Tyler lost all of the dressers and drawers that he had shared with Travis. We brought in an old one, but I promised him that I would get him something better. We looked and looked on Craig's list, and the only ones that Tyler and I found that would work were just too much money, so I finally convinced him to at least let me try to refinish a dresser we had in the garage. I am so glad I did! Here is what it looked like when I started, definitely not in the best shape, but loved the lines of it, and thought it would be perfect in the spot I had picked out in his room.

First thing to do was remove all the hardware and then we sanded and sanded. Then I got smart and borrowed a powered sander that made the job go so much faster. Thank you Simpson's! By the time we were finished with that, it was time to bring everything back in the house for the night. You can see the sanded drawers in this picture. I wanted all the "shine" off the drawers and tried to sand any large scratches off.

Next up was the staining. I stained the top and middle accent wood of the dresser. We are painting and staining to match the desk already in his room. I used a stain with poly in it already. After about 4 coats, I was thrilled with the color.

Next up was the painting. I painted a nice soft cream on all the drawers, the sides, and front of the dresser.

Looking much better right? Well, now the real fun began. Daylyn and I antiqued the dresser and drawers by taking sandpaper and sanding all around everything. I loved the look, and the dresser has the same style.

Now came the finishing touches. I bought new hardware for the drawers, but they were silver and we wanted oil rubbed bronze (same handles were over $1 more each at the store), so out came my favorite spray paint (read all about it here), and an hour later we had the perfect handles. :) A few coats of poly over the painted parts of the dresser, and I was done!

I love it, Tyler loves it, so I think it is a complete success!

Another look at the before and after. I think I will keep my eye open for other fun pieces of old furniture that will work in my house! What a difference 2 days, a little paint and stain can make.:)

Can't believe I hadn't blogged this yet! It's been done since before school started. LOL! Who would have thought that it would take longer to blog about the dresser than actually redoing it! :)

I'm linking up here!

 

We have a winner!

Congratulations Wendy! You are the winner of my Bead Soup Party Drawing!

This was your post that won!

WendyMar 4, 2012 07:10 PM

Really pretty designs! I'm loving the purple in both of those necklaces! Your glass beads are beautiful! :)

Please contact me so I can mail out your earrings and pendant!

5th Bead Soup Blog Party!

Today is the day! 200 of us jewelry designers have traded bead soups with partners from all over the world, and today we are posting the creations we designed with the soups we received. My partner this time is Jennifer Justman of Souls Fire Designs.

This is the soup I sent Jennifer (her post here)

This is the soup she sent me (my post here)

 

Here is what I created out of the fabulous goodies Jennifer sent.

 

 

 I took one of my Lampwork focals, paired it with some PMC bead caps I had made with the tiny bead caps Jennifer sent. I then put it on some gunmetal chain and the beautiful silk ribbon she sent. I love this necklace!

I took the Amthyst chips she sent, paired it with some boro lampwork beads, sterling silver and 

Czech crystal, and gunmetal chain which I finished off with the handmade clasp she sent. :)

 a close up of the clasp

 This necklace had me stumped for awhile. I kept trying to add more, but it wanted to be simple. Now that I listened, I think it turned out great! It will be the perfect piece for one of my many red tops. :)

Here is where you can see what Jennifer did with the soup I sent her. Also be sure to check out all of the other participant, it is sure to be fun and have you wanting to run to your studio and create!

I also want to do a give-away as well. After all every good party has a favor!

How To Enter (give away is open to everyone, not just Bead Soup Blog Party participants:

• Leave me a comment here and/or become a follower of my blog (one entry)
• "Like" Wee Gems Designs Facebook page (one entry)
• "Like" Charmed Pennies Facebook page (one entry)
• Spread the word about this giveaway on your blog, facebook or twitter (one entry)
• What is your favorite bead splurge? We all have them - share with us for another entry! :)

So there you have it, five different ways to enter:) Leave me a comment letting me know how you entered.**I will announce the winner in a month on March 31st, giving us all plenty of time to visit all of these fabulous blogs.**  Please check back to see if you have won or with a way to contact you if you win!. 

Here is what you are playing for: a pair of purple enameled earrings and a Charmed Penny!

Valentine's Day 2012

I know, I know, Valentine's was a week ago, but due to my crazy life, I didn't get to share any pictures or decorations until now, and I promised my Mom she would see them. :) I found lots of great ideas on Pintrest, and loved what I was able to add to the decorations I already had. I made Pumpkin Waffles for dinner which a few of us had been craving for weeks! So yummy, and I will post the recipe soon. :) I found some great  free printables from Pintrest that I made up as 5 x 7's and framed.

Love One Another (scroll down the page, on the right hand side)

I love this pillow that my Mom gave to me, thanks again Mom!

I also was able to use scrabble tiles as decorations, which since I always have at least a few games on hand was a fast and easy way to add some new fun decorations. 

I painted a scrabble tray red, and then spelled Valentine on it.

I bought a small square wood plaque for under $1 at JoAnn's and then painted it black,

glued on some paper and spelled out Love and You in scrabble tiles. Don't you love the quilted heart block? My Mom made that as well.  My Valentine Subway Art printable was found here.

This year I wanted to do a dessert table for my kiddos with some of their favorite treats, but because I didn't feel great, and knew I was hosting Book Club at my house, I did the table a few days later. It may have been late, but everyone loved it!

I hope you and your family had a great Valentine's Day as well. 

My girls handed these out to their friends at school. :)
We cut slits in the pictures above and below their hands
so that they were holding pixie sticks. 

Bead Soup!!!

It was so awesome to come home to from Texas to find my Bead Soup waiting for me. I tore right into it, and love what Jennifer sent me. There is Amethyst chips, Cape Amethyst, crystal, pink Jade, a cool handmade clasp, and a cool focal and findings from Fallen Angel Brass. Oh, and I can't forget the awesome silk ribbon from KAS Beads. :) Here is my soup, and I can't wait to play with it, I have pulled several strands of my lampwork beads out to see what I can create!

Look what else Jennifer sent, this great lampwork dangle necklace!

I love it and it is so fun to wear!

Thank you Jennifer!

To see what Jennifer said about the soup I sent her, click here!

Trunk Show at The Bead Factory!

Wee Gems and Charmed Pennies Trunk Show

at The Bead Factory
5705 N 26th Street
Tacoma, WA 98407 

Saturday, February 11th

10:00 - 4:00 pm

 

I am so excited! I have been asked to do a trunk show at The Bead Factory in Tacoma, WA. I have been a vendor at their Puget Sound Bead Festival for the past few years, and it is one of my favorite shows to do, so I am thrilled to have this chance. You can find Charmed Pennies and scrabble tiles at their store year round, and I will have a huge selection there at the show as well., I will also be bringing my Wee Gems. I have a batch of fabulous tiny lampwork acorns that all I have left to do is to epoxy the bails into them, and they will be ready! I will also have hearts, frogs, and lots of bead sets as well. Here are some pictures of my items in the store.

 a small selection of Charmed Pennies and Scrabble Tiles

 An Alice in Wonderland Charmed Penny and necklace!

Look at all those pearls!!!

If you have never been to The Bead Factory, I recommend going as soon as you can. They truly are the nicest bead store I have ever been in. Their selection of beads and findings is incredible, and the staff is just as amazing. I actually started my journey in beads in their store, many years ago now. Who would have ever guessed that a quick stringing lesson, a strand of pearls, and a few findings would lead me down the path it has, with me returning as a visiting artisan. Truly, it has been an amazing journey!

Our First Winter Storm

This post may be late, but I wanted to share the craziness and beauty of the first storm of the year. On Jan 16th, we had our first snowfall, and school was delayed 2 hours. That was the only time school was in for the week. The rest of the week was canceled because of the crazy amount of snow and then ice we had.  It was beautiful, the girls loved to play in the snow, and we all just stayed home and didn't go anywhere as the roads were pretty dangerous.

After the ice storm, power was out for almost 200,000 homes in the area. We are lucky that we live on the same power grid as the fire station, so we lost power several times, but never more than 10 hours. A lot of my friends weren't so lucky and were without power for 5 days. The beauty of the frozen trees came at a hefty price, so many trees snapped in half under the weight of all the ice. Thankfully we didn't lose any trees, just lots of big branches.

During all of this, I also packed in the dark to got to my sister's home in Texas. Some wonderful friends agreed to take me to the airport on Thursday morning because neither of our cars would have made it, and sadly once we were 10 minutes away from the airport, my flight was canceled. By Sat morning, most of the snow and ice was gone, and I was happily boarding my flight to Texas.

Bead Soup is in the mail!

I am happy to say that my bead soup is in the mail and on its way to Jennifer. I had fun picking out beads in the dark before I left on my trip to come to Texas. Once here, I was happy with the beads I picked and was able to come up with what I hope will be a fun soup for her. Here is a sneak peak at her soup!

I get to play in the 5th Bead Soup Blog Party!

I am so excited, I am on of the lucky 200 people who was picked to participate in this party! Lori Anderson  of Pretty Things puts this together and does such a great job that she had over 350 people wanting to participate this time. So we all signed up knowing that there was a chance we wouldn't get to participate this time, well, at least not send out soup, but I know I would still be blog hopping to see all the fun even if I wasn't picked!

My partner this time is Jennifer Justman of Souls Fire Designs.  Turns out Jennifer lives in the PNW as well. She is in Oregon, so she was also hit by the crazy weather we have had. We have a lot in common from our love of designing jewelry, of course, to favorite colors (blue) and a love of reading. I can't wait to put together a fun soup for her. :)

I think this is my favorite piece she has in her etsy shop right now, I can't wait to see what she will do with the soup I send her. :)

Ceramic Gemstone Dark Brass and Silk Bracelet: Flower in Winter

Christmas Glass

This year I was able to purchase some Groupons to use at a local Hot Glass Shop so that I was able to take my family there for their first hands on experience in a hot shop. They could choose to make an ornament, a float, a candy dish, or an egg. Once they decided on the shape, they were able to pick up to 2 colors of frit to work with. Then it was just a matter of waiting until it was their turn. It is truly a easy experience for anyone to do. You have a glass worker who handles the punty, the glass, and gets that starter bubble going for you (they make it seem so effortless, but from experience I can tell you that it is not!). Then they hook up a hose and from that you blow into it, and help to create your piece. It is magical, and this way, you know you will end up with a great piece that will be well shaped and beautiful. We can't wait to see our finished pieces!