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Friday ~ December 1st
Wow a brand new month (my favorite winter month) & the weekend already! It's going to be a busy one. Our friends from Calgary are coming up tonight for a visit. Tomorrow we're going to a fundraiser auction in the afternoon. It's for Santa's Anonymous & we've been going for 3 years now because it's so much fun ~ it's held at a bar for starters & the people that organize it are some of the nicest people I know. It's also our nephew, Jonny's birthday party tomorrow night. Looks like I won't have a lot of time to make beads this weekend, which is good, I could use a little break. I'll be back at it on Monday though & I hope to have some beads up here for sale soon.
Also, we are having another "mini" open house, probably next weekend or on the 16th. We sold out of our silk neckties but there was a lot of interest in getting some more, so hopefully we'll have a bunch made up as soon as possible. If you missed the last open house and would like to come see our new silk neckties, plus do a little last minute jewelry shopping, just email me at carrie@beadtree.net and I'll give you all the details.
And now for the riddle contest...
The winner for November's contest is Jenny Bertlesen ~ congrats to Jenny! I've also just posted a new contest & I finally made the Zanzibar beads for last month's riddle contest winner, Rickie. You can check it all out here.
Hope you have a fabulous weekend! |
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Monday ~ December 4th
I thought for the next week or so, I would show you some of my favorite pieces from our last show that sold before I could put them up here.
I love the way my mom matches up everything to give this bracelet complete flow. She's built up quite a fabulous bead stock, spending hundreds of hours researching bead resources to find just the right beads for her designs. Check out the cool clasp ~ it was handmade by a very well known & talented silver smith, Kate McKinnon. There's a real subtle beauty to this bracelet, with an undeniable glow from within the glass beads & those sleek silver beads. Mom, you are so talented ~ thanks for making my beads look so good!
We had a great weekend, although I'm worn out today - I slept in until 9, which is really weird for me. I don't actually set my alarm clock because I naturally wake at about 7 am. So I must have needed the sleep. It's time to get my butt in gear & make more beads. |
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Tuesday ~ December 5th
And here's another bracelet from our "Turkish Delight" line that is gone but not forgotten. There's just one of my glass beads in there & the rest of the bracelet is composed of amber, carnelian, smoky quarts, tiger eyes & Bali silver. It's so exotic, each bead shaped uniquely & having a special quality. |
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Wednesday ~ December 6th
"Tie-Dye" Beads & Silk
We've decided to have the "mini" open house on Saturday, December 16th from 11 to 2 p.m. ~ mark that on your calendars Jewelry Enthusiast!
Yesterday I went for a therapy massage - I feel great today. I had lots of the kinks in my shoulders worked out & I've made a commitment to go once a week until I've got my shoulders in better shape. There are so many amazing things about this job, but there are a few drawbacks too including the scrunchy-shoulder look which is so not hot. |
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Thursday ~ December 7th
This one is sold, but I loved the way it photographed so I wanted to show it here. The beads made by me are made of a special, reactive glass with lots of silver in it. Depending on how you work it in the flame you can create all these amazing wispy lines in different celestial hues. I think mom did an amazing job matching them up with those donut stones & teal crystals.
This bracelet is from our Turkish Delight collection & it was also one of my favorites. There's an assortment of semiprecious stones including carnelian, amethyst & jasper with an amber nugget, some gorgeous silver beads & one of my "fossil" glass beads.
Another bracelet gone, but worth showing. My auntie snatched this one up ~ amazing striated agate stones mixed with smoky topaz & matched with 2 handmade glass beads. |
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Friday ~ December 8th
My Jewelry Box
One of my favorite gifts given to me is this jewelry box that my mom painted & designed. It has a magical appearance & lots of personal symbolic meaning. For instance, the weeping birch leaves, which you can barely make out in this photo, but line the left side of the horse picture (they've chipped away over the years & now look more like the gold tie-dye design) represent my love of nature & horses are one of my favorite animals.
Inside the box, my mom decorated it with a bunch of stars that extend past the picture of the camel in an exotic location. She painted the background blue, knowing that it's my favorite color. It's a very special gift that I received before I got into the jewelry business, in fact, for the first year or two there was hardly anything in it. Now, it's packed with jewelry that my mom made (I cleaned it up for the photo).
Wouldn't it be nice to have the time & resources to make such awesome gifts for everyone? Well, that's definitely not going to happen for me this year - I'm scrambling now, but here's some cool Christmas gift ideas incase you're still shopping.
* Living Out Loud by Keri Smith ~ a great book to inspire
* WWF Unique Gifts ~ a win, win gift for sure
* Chocolate (includes love poems inside)
* Recycline products (check out their tableware)
* Mighty Goods ~ a shopping blog!
* For each gift that you give, accompany it with a poem or story about the receiver (thanks for that one Jenny).
* Purchase gifts handmade by local artists, artisans & crafters ~ not only are you giving a one-of-a-kind gift, you're supporting creativity in your community.
* Make a memory collage with pictures & words that relate to the person you're giving the collage too (thanks for mine Tricia!).
Happy Shopping! |
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Sunday ~ December 10th
Door in Quito (Galapagos Islands)~ photo by my Uncle Bill
Clue number two added to this month's contest here. |
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Tuesday ~ December 12th
New Pickpocket Scam Alert
Be on the lookout for this duck. She distracts you with her little ducklings while she steals all your holiday money!
My morning ~
4:36 a.m. ~ Chris kisses me goodbye (he's off to work) 4:38 a.m. ~ toss around in bed trying to fall back asleep 4:39 a.m. ~ wonder how the beads I made yesterday turned out 4:41 a.m. ~ think about the things I need to do today 4:44 a.m. ~ calculate the # of hours I've slept & realize it's not enough if I get up now 4:46 a.m. ~ toss around in bed some more trying to fall back asleep 4:50 a.m. ~ start brainstorming Christmas gifts I need to get 5:01 a.m. ~ turn on radio to listen to news 5:15 a.m. ~ bummed that world peace hasn't occurred overnight, I turn off radio 5:16 a.m. ~ try to clear mind & go back to sleep 5:20 a.m. ~ debate getting up to see the beads I made yesterday that are in the kiln 5:24 a.m. ~ decide I need another hour of sleep & try even harder to fall asleep 5:32 a.m. ~ wide awake, I must get up & see those beads! |
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Wednesday ~ December 13th
A few of the silk neckties that will be available this weekend. |
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Thursday ~ December 14th
The Swill Kings, that's the band Chris is in, are playing at the Sidetrack this Saturday, opening up for another band called Big River. I think they're up at 9 p.m., but it's going to be busy, so get there early for good seats (not my seat though, o.k.). |
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Friday ~ December 15th
Alright kids, one more plug for our open house tomorrow, from 11 to 2 p.m. We should have over 100 silk neckties available along with some other jewelry pieces. The ties are fabulous ~ they're very versatile, unique & stunning ~ just look at these guys above. Some people have been emailing about the possibility of purchasing silk neckties online; I will try to get some up here for purchasing after the show (next week or maybe after Christmas). Anyway, this is not the last you'll see of these - both my mom & I are really enamored with the quality & beauty of them so I'm sure we'll be making more. Have a super day, I'm off for a little morning hot tub soak before I get cracking. |
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Sunday ~ December 17th
Hi! Monkey's Fruitcake Recipe Revealed
** Clue number three added to this month's contest here. ** |
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Tuesday ~ December 19th
There was a bead that Andrea Guarino-Slemmons made & put up for auction 2 months ago & she called it a "Gratitude Talisman". You might remember Andrea came up to Edmonton in late August & taught a beadmaking class. I was taken by this bead, as I am with all of Andrea's beads, but I also felt very connected to the message behind it, that is, Gratitude is the "readiness to show appreciation for all of the many things that come our way".
Needless to say, I didn't win her bead. A little while later, Kathy, the owner of Bedrock Supplies, a store here in town that provides us glass artists with our glass & tools, emailed me & said that there was a surprise waiting for me at the store. Well, it's been a busy stretch so it wasn't until last week that I got a chance to see Kathy at the Edmonton Beadmaker's Annual Christmas Potluck. She brought the surprise with her. Inside a purple box was this stunning "Gratitude Talisman" necklace, number 2 in the series. I was beside myself & at first didn't put it together. Kathy explained that she was bidding on the same bead back in October & won it, but hadn't realized that I was bidding on it as well. Afterwards, when she found out that I had bid on it, she bid on Andrea's second Gratitude Talisman bead & won it for me.
So here is my Gratitude Talisman. I can't think of a better time of year to reflect on all the wonderful things I've been given & to tell you all how appreciative I am for your interest & support in what I do ~ I feel very grateful. And to Kathy, thank you for embracing kindness & for being so consistent in your thoughtfulness. |
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Wednesday ~ December 20th
Silk Neckties
O.k. so I imagine everybody is really busy right now. I sure am, I'm off to make rum balls in a flash here. Just to let you know, I want to post some silk ties & will do that after Christmas. Also, I have beads! My mom strung all the beads she had left, which made for almost 20 strands. Just little strands, some mix & match, fun shapes & colors for you to play with. I want to get them up soon as well, maybe on the 27th or 28th when things have calmed down a little. I'll email everyone on my notification list when I post them & if you're not on the list, just email me at carrie@beadtree.net & I'll put you on.
November Prize ~ Marrakech Beads
I finished the prize beads for the last contest & I'm so pleased with them! They're really stunning in person, the silver bits turned out very shiny & I incorporated some silver mesh.
Since many of you are going to be away from your computers, I thought I would list the last contest clue for this month here & I'll draw a name on January 1st, so if you haven't entered yet, you better ~ look what you can win. |
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Thursday ~ December 21st
Sunset outside my mom's house (late September)
My favorite time of day is just at dark when all thoughts of what must be done stop & small pools of light come alive on tired faces everywhere. ~ StoryPeople
It's the shortest day of the year. Today in Edmonton the sun rises at 8:48 a.m. & sets at 4:16 p.m. That's only 7 & 1/2 hours of day, but after today the days start getting longer again! Happy Winter Solstice (or Summer for you Southern Hemispherians). |
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Friday ~ December 22nd
Kitties & Sunshine...
If there was a giant rainbow coming through the window & a unicorn prancing around here, I would think I had died & gone to heaven.
On another note, can the internet get any cooler? Did you see TIMES Person of the Year? It's You! That's right, all people that use the internet - the world is our oyster friends! I feel like we're just scraping the surface, really. Check out what I did, you can do one too! |
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Saturday ~ December 23rd
Bruce & I ~ December 1972
I was rummaging around in some old photo books & came across this little beauty.
That's me with my brother Bruce. As a kid, Boo (that's his nickname) was my hero & I followed him everywhere he went. I even gave him all my allowance money & he took it! Boo you owe me at least a hundred bucks. |
Sunday ~ December 24th
Me ~ Christmas 1973
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! |
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Thursday ~ December 28th
Bead Strands are all sold - thank you! Click on the above picture to go to them. |
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Friday ~ December 29th
Silk Ties now up for sale! Click on picture to go to them.
These silk ties are a fabulous & stunning alternative to wearing a chain & pendant. They are all hand dyed & sewn & once we get them, my mom creates tiny one-of-a-kind sculptures on the ends using semiprecious stones, swarovski crystals, Bail, Thai & Sterling silver & one of my handmade glass beads. Each one is very special & I know you'll be happy to own one or some for yourself (they make great gifts too!). Here's a picture I took of one of mine this morning.
This was folded in half, wrapped around my neck & the bead ends were inserted through the loop end. You could also just wrap it once around your neck & either tie the knot high or low depending on what you're wearing. If you've got a small waist, this would look nice as a belt & you could wrap the silk around your wrist to create a unique bracelet - the possibilities are endless. All ties are approximately 3 feet long. If you bought some of the beads from yesterday & would like to include a (some) silk tie(s), let me know & we can figure out a discount on the shipping costs. Thanks & happy shopping! |
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Sunday ~ December 31st
Happy New Year!
Ella Bella
Well, it's mere hours away until a new year begins. 2006 was a pretty interesting year for me. It was definitely not a year without any bumps along the way, but a lot of amazing things happened too including:
And the list goes on... It will be hard to top, but I know 2007 is going to be awesome, I just have a feeling ~ here's to the best year yet, why not?!
For 2007, I hope you spend more time in the moment. Become more conscious of the beauty around you & respect & nurture the environment. I hope you live artfully & with purpose & love deeper than you ever have. I hope good things come pouring into your home & that you take care of yourself because you are wonderful! |
