Growing Food and Springtime Jewelry

I haven't been making too much for Etsy lately. I traded so much last month in the trade-n-stay and have yet to make more things. I have several things in my shop that remind me of spring. I made this necklace and love wearing it. It's made with lampwork glass beads and Czech glass beads.


I also have this bracelet and this necklace that have been on sale for several months and I love both of them. They both remind me of spring.

Now on to my other hobby of late. I simply love biting into a ripe melon in the middle of summer. Yellow watermelon is probably my favorite but I love red watermelon and cantaloupe too. I decided that this year I would try growing some of my own. I haven't been able to find any yellow watermelon since moving out here. I even had to order the seeds on the internet. We eat a lot of squash too so I decided to try planting all those three types of melon plus squash. Since we live in Wisconsin, it can snow into the month of May so I decided to plant the seeds inside and then transplant them outside in late May or early June. So far there is a little squash plant that popped up this weekend and several little red watermelon plants that have poked through the soil. The yellow watermelon seeds came in the mail nine days after I planted the others so they haven't had much time to grow yet. Still no action on the cantaloupe but I hope that something will grow there soon. Here are some pictures I took today.

The red watermelon:
The squash plant:

Trading is Most Excellent

I love this necklace. So many colors and I just love the glass beads. It's going to be hard to part with but for now I will enjoy it. I have this up for sale and have added some PIF items and dropped prices on several things.

I tried to tie that into what I'm about to say but it just sounded too hokey. So I am changing the subject.

I must say that I love me a good trade. Any of you Etsians out there who are traders will, hopefully, agree with me. I am just addicted to it. I love getting things I need or want in a good Etsy trade. No money need be exchanged. The Tradeaholics team on Etsy had a trade and stay event last week. I did several trades for dog treats for Obie, a dog ID tag, some cards, two pairs of earrings, soap, tote bags, this cute ceramic ornament for our anniversary, a coffee cozy, some napkins for Evelyn and beads. I know, many links, but I am so thrilled with all my trading. Any other Etsy traders out there? I have found that lately many people are reluctant to trade and would just rather make money. Well money is great but I needed a new dog ID tag for Obie and Etsy trading means I don't have to drive around buying things. Trading makes people happy. If something has sold at all and it's been posted for a few months but someone wants to trade, if I like something in their shop I'll trade for it.

Animals Need Love

I love animals. That's probably why I make a lot of things that incorporate animals. Even the "yucky" animals have a place in my shop.


This cute bracelet features a scorpion lampwork bead. The rest of the bracelet is made with Czech glass size one seed beads. I love using this kind of seed bead. They are about the size of a pony bead but come in beautiful colors. Sometimes I will use a smaller size seed bead but I still make sure to get the beautiful colors that come with glass beads.

I am just in love with lampwork beads. There is so much that can be made with glass. I love these cute little sheep that I mentioned in a previous post. This bracelet is similar to the scorpion one but features a lizard. I found the bead online and he was supposed to look like a crocodile but I think he lookes more like a lizard.


If you've checked my shop recently you can see that I've been busy making many new things. Most of my time has gone to creating. I prefer it to promoting. Making new things is my favorite part of the process.

If anyone out there is getting married soon, check out my veil sale going on now. Also, I'm planning on making some new veils for the spring.

An Anniversary and Wedding Veil Sale

A year ago I was getting ready for our wedding. We didn't have enough money for a small wedding, let alone one of those huge hurrah's you see today. Everything from giving your guests gifts to food to decorations costs bundles these days. Half of it isn't even necessary. We had to keep it simple.


My husband and I got married at the courthouse. They had a nice wedding room that was very pretty and our parents came to witness it. My grandmother made my gown and my mom made the cake.


We had two receptions. The first was in Maryland, with his immediate family and my side, right after we got married. We had a nice reception in a private room of a great restaurant. We didn't hire a photographer or have a wedding party or any of that. Our second reception was in Wisconsin four weeks later with my immediate family and his side, again in a nice restaurant and similar setting. Each reception had about 40 guests, including those who came to both receptions. It was nice and simple. Just about all of it we did ourselves. We just wanted to get married. The frills were just frills and didn't add or take away anything from our marriage.


That started my path to making wedding veils, jewelry and accessories. I needed a veil so I made one. I sewed Swarovski crystals to the veil with invisible thread and sewed crackle glass to the comb. This past July I made a veil for a friend and I started thinking of making these for brides on a budget. While my veils didn't sell right away, my jewelry has done well. I guess it doesn't help that most weddings are in spring and summer and I started selling veils closer to the fall. Anyway, I made my first veil, my wedding veil, a year ago and so I'm putting my veils on sale. Each pre-made veil is now between $30 and $39 and I've lowered the shipping cost. I also have my butterfly comb at clearance price! You can find my veils here and my accessories here including hairpins, hair bands and combs.

Hebrew for Lamb

My name is Hebrew for "lamb" or "ewe" depending which book you're reading. Maybe that's why I've always had a special place in my heart for sheep. Sure, horses, llamas, camels and giraffes have always rated high, but sheep are pretty cool too. My sister Vivian bought some great beads and made a cute bracelet with them. That bracelet sold earlier this month but I just couldn't help but want to get my hands on some of those beads. I found them in green and blue. I just love these little guys and hope that you do too. Cat's eye beads or fiber optic beads were also used.

For Aunt Belva

On Thursday I got an email from my dad saying that my great Aunt Belva had passed away. I got in my car and drove to Indiana that day and drove the rest of the way to Maryland the next day, went to the funeral, stayed through Sunday, drove back to Indiana on Monday and made it home to Wisconsin on Tuesday. I didn't know Aunt Belva too well, at least compared to her children and grandchildren, but she still made an impact on me. I couldn't explain it, but when I heard that she had passed I knew I just had to come back to Maryland to the funeral. I just had to say "goodbye" to her. I'm glad I did. I remember at the family reunions that she would always smile at me and have delicious treats for us kids. For a little girl, family reunions were fun but it was a bit daunting walking around among the adults. I had cousins and siblings to play with but of course the older family members wanted to talk to us and say how much we'd grown. Aunt Belva was just always kind to me. Sure, we all have our flaws and I personally don't like it when people say you can't speak a bad word about the dead. Not that we want to drag their name through the dirt... I suppose my dad said it best. He was truthful. Aunt Belva was like her parents. They had a hard life. They worked hard and could be gruff but they also had a lot of love to give to their family. Aunt Belva, like her mother, loved flowers. So, for her, I'm posting a picture of some flowers that just popped out in our front yard last spring. No promotion today.

Been Busy

I've been pretty busy lately. I've made quite a few things and it takes just as long, if not, longer, to put them on Etsy. I've really enjoyed being able to create though. I've bought a lot of beads lately. I love beads and shopping for beads. I'm really not much of a shopper. I hate shopping for most things but I love shopping for beads. I can walk through a store and will see a string of beads and just know what I want to make with them. The problem is that I went to two bead shops last week. We're not talking about Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics. This are high quality bead shops. It's all about beading there. I just couldn't help myself. I loved so many beads! I just walked through the shops and came up with ideas for all kinds of jewelry. Now I'm actually making it and putting it in my shop. I am thrilled with these beads! I got some rubies, jade and jasper beads that I love. You can find the results here, here and here. I really enjoy working with multiple strands of beads on one piece. I think colorful stone beads lend themselves well to this. I tend to use a lot of color and bigger beads more often then smaller beads and neutral colors. One of my favorite new things is the frog necklace. I love that little guy. It makes for a colorful and fun necklace and I got to use all glass beads. Glass is probably my favorite.

Beading has just become addicting. It takes time and patience but you get a beautiful product. I just love it! What do you like to make and/or wear? Anyone else enjoy beading? Do you make things that you enjoy but may not be totally "in style" or do you make what you know people will buy because it's the current trend regardless of how you feel about that trend?