New Directions, Thoughts, and a Bit of a Rant!

Been a bit of time since I last posted - but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy! I have been, both in thinking and doing! Making a few changes as a result of all that thinking, and hopefully it will be a positive change. I know I am liking it very much - and hope you all will too!

I did a lot of going over things on my various venues where I have my jewelry - and wondering yet again why sales just aren't there. After a careful and thoughtful look at it all, I have decided that my jewelry doesn't really reflect who I am, and doesn't really have a particular focus and theme. It is a mish mash of techniques and try-outs - which is not a bad thing - but some things maybe should just be used for learning purposes - that may come in handy later.

I came to a decision about the direction my efforts and my jewelry will take. I have long been a committed Christian - and that really is how I define myself, but that just never came through on most of my jewelry. Now and then it peeked through, but that was not the central focus and purpose behind what I created. Now it will be. I am not intending to change any of the things I have already made - I love them all, and will leave them up on all the venues they are currently on, such as iCraft, Zibbet, byhand.me and Craftstylish.

To launch this new direction - I am taking my blog name (well, variation of), and since I own the domain name, I am building a brand new site for my new creations. The site is called Studio 2:14 - and, like this blog is named after 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 2, verse 14:

...He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my Lord , David your father.

I love this quote because it refers to all kinds of crafting skills - and I have always believed that God gave me some modest talents to create things. Now I am using my Christian beliefs as the basis for my designs.

Right now there is only one product on the site, and it is definitely a work in progress - and most of the links do not work yet - even so - I invite you to go take a look - there will shortly be two more. I will also be putting other kinds of crafty gifts - I have ideas for baby and for personal goodies - all of which I love - and all of which have their inspiration from the Scriptures. I am truly enjoying this new adventure, and hope you will join me in supporting my efforts!

A related note - when looking for (of all things) dishtowels - being annoyed to no end at the current cost of paper towels - I had a long and unsuccesful hunt for something in what I consider a reasonable cost, and you know why? Everything in the stores now seems to be made in China. I guess I don't get out much, but I was shocked that there was so little that was made in the USA. My hunt was limited, and doesn't involve any high-end stores, or malls - so the results may be skewed, but it made me mad. So....I thought....I'll just make them - I mean it's not rocket science to make a decent-sized dish towel, right? Ha! Guess what - all the suitable fabrics (mostly waffle weave muslin) are.....wait for it......made in CHINA. C'mon folks, I mean really! I mean ALL of them. So, I gave up on that idea, because I refuse to buy into the China owns us syndrome. I still have no dish towels.

That brought up the idea for making - not dish towels - but wonderful soft cotton face and bathing cloths for adults and babies....so off I went on another hunt. I needed cotton yarn for them - and although I love organic - that was out of my price range - but I absolutely was not going to make anything from cotton from anywhere but here (and Canada). It was a search (and thank you! for the law that makes them put the country of origin on things), but I did find that! So...they will be appearing on my site soon.

Ok...done ranting for now...(I have more, but that will have to wait!)

Stay tuned, and I'd sure like some feedback - good or bad - I just request that remarks be civil (or they will be removed). Let me know what you think of my new direction...

Features and Contests, Oh My!

As usual, been too long - but finally have the time and inspiration to get back on track!!

First - a feature! I was so thrilled and excited to be featured on the Handcrafted Creations Blog!! What a boost to my spirits to see my creations on here! I wanted to shout to the world - lookee here!! I want all of you to share in my excitement too - so check it out!
A huge thanks to Victorian Joanne for the kind words and wonderful layout of my craft creations! You all need to follow her blog - it is chock full of interesting things!!


As if that weren't enough excitement for one week - I also have been working on an entry to the "Use the Muse II" contest on The Beader's Muse website. I thought this was such a cool idea - everyone who entered got the same set of components - plus a "Muse" focal element. It was totally up to the entrant to create a piece of 'wearable art' out of these components - and any other goodies from our own stash. It was great fun! We are allowed to show a part of what we did - but - the "Muse" element has to remain a secret until the judging is complete and the winners announced!

In that spirit - here is a 'part' of the necklace I created with these wonderful bits and pieces:

The entry deadline was yesterday (I sent mine in a little early) - and now the waiting! The winners won't be announced for two - three weeks - and it's not the kind of thing where you can go vote - it is up to the chosen judges. The prizes are fabulous - so I'm really hoping!!! Stay tuned....you'll know soon as I do!

The Last of the "Lollies"

I have been way too busy - and have moved some of my craft things back into the house - the studio is just too hot to work in without AC. Hoping to find a window unit on sale after the 4th - I sure miss being out there with ALL my things around me!

But...I have been concentrating on a couple of new things. One...I am practicing my photography - and it is paying off. I am learning how to stage my jewelry, how to get a good picture, and interesting close-ups that show the detail. I am pleased with my progress - and hope to continue getting better.

I have also been working on 'thinking outside the box' - that is - my box. Trying to use materials and sizes I have not done before - and it has been fun! I have a small collection of pretty lucite beads - larger than I normally would think of using - and that was enough to decide I should use them! And, you know.....I liked my experiment! I love how they turned out, so wanted to share the last two in the series here before they go up on my shop at iCraft!

I called this collection "Lollies" because the colors and shapes of the beads reminded me instantly of lollipops that I used to get as a kid. The colors are fun and vibrant, and surprisingly lightweight for the size. They aren't huge - the beads average about 1" - but that is a departure for me, who uses more of the 4mm kind! I named the "Lollies" each after a fruit that the color suggested to me....so without further ado...

Here are the "Lemon-drop Lollies" earrings. They are framed by smaller crackle glass beads and are hanging on Sterling silver french earwires.

And now for the last of the series - since these weren't a 'color' at all, but were frosty white - they reminded me of ice! But I named them "Frosted Lolly Earrings" - and that seemed to be the completion of this series. It has been fun!

Here they are:

So....there you have it! A 'sneak peek' at the last of the series before they go to the shop! And if you'd like to own them before they go out there....just shoot me an email at

and I'll get right back to you with special 'one-time-only' pricing! The rest of the series can be viewed at my iCraft Shop - I would love it if you'd check them out and send me some feedback!!

A Little Off-Topic But Handy Hint!

I ran across this neat little thingy yesterday as I was writing the post on my Garden Lantern earrings. Since I occasionally sell my crafts right from my blog (even before they hit my iCraft store!), it is necessary for people to be able to contact me.

I have been doing the 'spell-out-the-words' of the email address, but then I found a very cool way to do this, and defeat (at least for a while) the spammers from getting it! I found this little gem of a website through one of the blogs I read, called "Gizmo's Daily Tech Treats. They sometimes have the coolest stuff! I learned that what I had been doing is called 'munging' your email. Interesting word!

This website I found thru Gizmo is called www.hidetext.net - and it not only takes your email address and makes it an image (which spammers HAVE learned to decipher) - but also mixes up the colors and fonts. You even get to pick the color for the first part of the image!
I went and used it - you can get your little image - and then delete it forever from thier servers (course I realize I am trusting that they do this - but makes sense or they would have a huge amount of images piling up!). Once you have it - then you can use it in your blog and feel just a bit safer!

Here it is again.....

Is that not the coolest thing ever??
More to come....stay tuned....

All Sorts of Sparkle and Shine!

I got in some wonderful crafting time in my studio - thanks to a decision to 'just do it' and the cooperation of the weather being cool and breezy. The combination of the ceiling fan and the open window and door made the studio very comfortable. I put on my favorite Christian station, and pulled my chair up to the 'beading' section of my studio.

Right away I saw these neat tube beads, made from (I believe) buri nuts. The shape was really pleasing to me, as was the subtle lavender shade and translucent look. They looked like they were lit from within! I've had them for a while, but no ideas had come to mind for them....and I've learned to just let things be...until an idea simmers its way to the surface.

I had out a collection of silvery bead caps (just hadn't put them away yet...) and when I got them out and strung them with the buri beads...they looked to me just like tiny garden lanterns you might string outside to light a summer evening. Oh, yeah! I was liking this.

They were too small (even for me) on their own - so I looked around for just the right thing to finish them up.....and then I spied a small envelope...and inside were antiqued silvery connector links in the shape of flowers. Perfect! This fit so well with my idea of the little garden lanterns, I knew they would be just the thing for the earrings. So...on they went, and I just love the result!

I have a limited amount of both the nut beads and the flower connectors - so I thought I would show them off here, and let you in on a bargain too! They'll be here for just a few days....then they'll go to my shop, and the price will go up!


Here they are:

As always - any and all comments are welcome - let me know what you think!

Features and Discounts For You!

Since May, I have been participating in a "Sellers' Bootcamp" on the iCraft.ca site. That is where I have my shop, and the folks running the site are going the extra mile to help all the crafters (hand-made only) to showcase and sell their creations.

As part of this, IndieSmiles has given us a feature on their website - and you get all the benefits! Every 'bootcamper' participating in the IndieSmiles promotion is discounting all the items in their shops for the next two weeks! You have to check it out! There is such a diversity of great things to drool over....from neat pillows from PillowThrowDecor (who also is the genius behind the bootcamp!) to cool lotions and soaps from Naturliche.....and more jewelry - like the wonderful creations of GalleriaLinda.


I was astonished to be told I had won a feature 'showcase' on the IndieSmiles site as part of their promotion!! Wow - a whole little feature, just about little ole me! I was honored, and am so grateful to be chosen for this! You can see the feature - and find out more about me....right here!

What a week! And now...I am truly hoping to get into the studio - hot or not - and make some new things - I have really been feeling 'crafting-deprived!'

More Wire-y Fun!

I was taking some time out in the studio - not so often now...there's no air out there, so I'm relegated to early morning, or evening (maybe). I did get some time in - and decided to just play and see what I came up with.

I was thinking of the Fruits of the Spirit - and thought they would be a nice basis for a pair of earrings....I took an oval wire shape (thanks Beadalon!), and began wrapping it with 24 gauge wire - then leaving a long-ish tail. I alternated directions of wrapping, so that every other one would naturally either go to the front or back. Once that was done, they looked very odd and spikey - but the wrapping I was pleased with.

Then I got out my precious box of Swarovski crystal bicone beads - all those sparkly colors! I began putting a different color on each spike, then making a spiral with the wire tail to give it interest, and keep the crystal on. I continued with each spike, turning them either to the front or back - and when I was done - I loved the oval shaped filled with swirls and bright bits of color - perfect!

The oval accomodated nine spikes - which just happens to be how many fruits of the spirit there are....and gave each color a corresponding fruit:

Love.................ruby
Joy..................clear/AB finish
Peace................sapphire
Longsuffering......emerald
Kindness.............purple
Goodness............copper
Faithfulness ........amythest
Gentleness..........antique rose
Self-control.........lilac

Somehow the colors just seemed to go with the names....at least to me! I attached them with two tiny Argentium jump rings to sterling silver french earwires.....just a lovely sight!!

Here is how they turned out.....and you're seeing them before they hit my iCraft store!!

Thought it appropriate to photograph them on a leaf...

A closer view....

And the reverse side....just as pretty as the front....I like that!

As always.....any feedback is much appreciated!!