And the winner is

Donna [rainbowrave] is the winner of the name the necklace contest with the name...

Twilight Reflection..

Thank you Donna and everyone else that entered.

Yummy These Smell So Good.

Last week end I had a mini soap making marathon. I made 8 beautiful batches of lovely smelling Olive oil and goats milk soap. Today I cut them all and put them on their racks to cure. I have to say the smell coming from the drying room is awesome.

Soap making is a addicting and useful craft. However it is not for the person who requires immediate gratification. Before this soap is ready to use it needs to cure "dry" for another 3 or so weeks. Sometimes I get lucky and they are ready a little sooner and I get to indulge a little early.

I will probably start listing them in my ArtFire and Etsy shop Mid May. These batches are on the small size so it is sometimes a good idea to reserve a few bars before my regulars scoop them all up. I posted a couple of photos so you can see how pretty they are, I really like the rustic look......

olive oil
________
Downy Fresh
Blushing Pink Hyacinth
Tuscan lace
Green Irish Tweed

Goats Milk
__________
Sage & Lemongrass
Black Vetyver Cafe` with cinnomon coffe scrub
Exotic Amazon Teakwood
Dusky Goddess

My Hubby will be out of town for the next three days so I will be enjoying many hours of guild free craft time. I will be teaching myself some new beadweaving stitches and also making some new beads and cabochons. I need to pour some new candles too and make a few pieces of jewelry. I have a craft show coming up on the 9th. We will be on vacation the week before so prep time is short. Housework will be low on my to do list for the next couple of days.

Do you wanna win a free bar of handmade soap?

All you have to do to win a free bar of soap is come up with the winning name for this necklace I made today. Think of a name and post it in comments section; I will choose the winning name on Saturday April 25th.

This necklace was fun to design and has what I think is a cool design feature...it is really 2 necklaces in one because it is reversible. The pattern on the focal bead is different on each side as is the beaded bezel.

The focal bead in the pendant is made with polymer clay, ink and gold leaf. I made the free form bezel out of gazillion glass seed beads. The beaded necklace measures 20 inches and is finished with a goldtoned lobster clasp.

Good luck with the contest; I am interested in reading what people come up with.

New Necklace

I have been enjoying beadweaving my lentil beads. I made this necklace with reversable pendant yesterday. It is much prettier in real life; I am happy with it.

Today I am going to make some floral lentils for some pretty spring designs and change the bezel style some. Maybe add some fringe dangles with some of the crystal flower beads I have.

I listed the red one I made the other day on Sunday in my Etsy shop and it sold in less the 10 minutes. I was shocked it sold so fast and pleased because it will be going to someone who really likes it. I am going to list this one later in Etsy and Artfire hopefully someone will like it too.

I got a beautiful fancy professional beading loom today that I am excited to start using and designing for it. This loom is so pretty it's almost a display as well as a tool. I am thinking maybe a floral patterned bracelet would be nice.

I have other looms that are not 1/2 as nice as the new one, I think I'll keep them to teach my Grandkids with when they get older.

A wonderful craft show

Every spring my first Show of the season is The Brockton Red Barn Market. I have done it the last 3 years and every year it gets better. This year was very good Jose and I had a good time and made a good profit.

Brockton is a very small town in Rural Illinois so small if you blink you will miss it. There are no stop lights and the only business are a small cafe,bar and archery shop. Also there is a huge red barn that they use for horse shows and things like that. It's very cool and quaint. They also have antique sales there and every April they have the Big Red Barn Antique and Craft Show. This town is 25 miles from the nearest town so you would think there wouldn't be any business but that is not the case; at times there were so many customers I couldn't see across to the other booths.

I wish I had photos but the light wasn't good enough maybe next year...

Something for my sore muscles

ARRRRGGGG I hate getting old and some of the things that go with it. For me the body aches are the worst part. So a few years ago I started making different soaks and bath teas to relax my ouchys. I decided to make some for my shops.

I just love this stuff it smells awesome. When I am tired and my muscles ache I fill my tub with warm water . Then I fill a cotton bag with the herbs and salt and drop it into the tub to dissolve the salts and release the beautiful scent. The salts relax my muscles and the scent relaxes me. It is the perfect end to a long day.

The combo of dead sea and Epsom salts relax and sooth sore muscles and help detox the skin. I like the rose petals and hips the oils from them seem to help soften my skin. The wild rose and oak is such a awesome warm calming scent.

The resealable bag holds 1 lb. of salts and a reusable cotton bag to fill with the salts and petals. Just fill the bag and drop into the warm tub let the salts dissolve and soak you aches away.