Wire Wrapped Necklaces

I used to dread making necklaces like these. It was boring and tedious ... just keep repeating the same motions over and over. Now, I think of it as therapeutic. And of course, I'm a lot quicker at it, which helps a great deal.

Having said all that, it felt like forever until this necklace was long enough to go around the neck twice without using a clasp. I can envision wearing it with a linen colored silk sheath style dress.

It was worth the time it took. I alternated champagne colored pearls and smoky quartz rondelles for a earthy, warm look. Here's a close-up:

I've worked on several necklaces in this same style. Here's my favorite. The beads are fluorite and vary in color but are mostly shades of purple and seafoam, traditional fluorite colors. The shape is also quite enticing: faceted stylized cubes.

These pieces are too tricky to photograph for me to list them in my etsy shop, so I'll probably reserve them for local sales at craft shows.

Crafting with Beer

Well, not really beer. More like the 6-packs they come in! I've been saving 6-packs with interesting artwork for a while, and I think I've even blogged about this in the past. I used the artwork to make a batch of fun little books. These aren't serious books -- I used a glue stick and the simple pamphlet stitch for binding. They are of the "quick & dirty" variety of booklets.

Here's the whole batch:

I really enjoy selecting the papers for inside the covers. It gives me an opportunity to go through the huge stash of paper I've been collecting over the years.

This one is my favorite. It's from a 4-pack of specialty beer that I bought for Rick a few years ago.

This one is obviously NOT from a 6-pack and it's for Chelline, who gave me a stack of Mount Gay Rum boxes. What's going on down there in Soldotna anyway??

Remember I said I might do another give away? I'm considering the Samuel Adams book as the next one. Stay tuned!

Scarf Give Away Winner!!

The winner of the green scarf is Elisbeth!!!

Thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment. Stay tuned -- I may do another give away before I head out of town to buy more gems at the Tucson gem shows.