Happy New Year

2012 has been somewhat of a crazy mixed up year!

I opened a new shop, Reflections on HandMadeArtists.

Got acquainted with some new friends such as Monika creator of MyEuropeanTouch who not only creates some amazing items with mosaics but her drawings are fabulous - I love this print Quill and Ink Drawing Post Card Monika Drake Mansion of  Tesdorf in Germany

I love what she does with broken plates - even pink ones! such as this delightful Shabby chic Mosaic Window Sash Pane Broken China Plate Rims

We had a Secret Santa gift exchange on HandMadeArtists Forum and I received this beautiful bracelet by Lisa, creator of Uniglets, I actually try to stay away from her shop, because every time I look I find at least one or two items I would love to have! 

Love this Blue Flower on Copper Vintage Assemblage Bracelet

and  in love with this Victorian Elegance Reworked  Vintage Necklace 

I finally reached 100 followers on my blog - and had a drawing for a stained glass ornament/ sun catcher. what was truly funny was I drew Lisa's name!  This is the sun catcher ornament and 2 little stars I sent her.  The sun catcher is clear stained glass that I hand painted with  a silver outline and a blue/green iridescent paint. The little star on the left, is a glass star that I wrapped with copper foil tape and soldered. Adding some clear and emerald green beads to the top and bottom for a purse or phone charm.  the star on the right, is a metal star I painted with aqua/blue iridescent paint and added some white curly cue designs.  We have become pretty good friends over the miles between Albuquerque, New Mexico and New York City.

I received a wonderful gift  way before Christmas, of 7 sets of double pointed knitting needles from Judy, creator of JuniqueGoods who makes these lovely Christmas Spiders , among other delightful creations. 

Please don't get me wrong, I value the friendliness and support by so many members of the forum, but, Monika and Lisa have become "friends."  I've gotten better acquainted with some other members too. 

I closed my shops on ArtFire, don't miss it too much! Still have my lisianblue shop on HandMadeArtists. Always grateful for the support and all that Kimberly and Andrew do for us through the forum, shop, and blog - and so much more! 

I got to have my grandson with me for a month here in Alb, and then I spent about a month in Colorado Springs with him, his sister, and their mom (my daughter).  I do miss them! The flood in their former home from the sewer back up was not fun! I was sick for over a month!  2012 was sort of like a roller coaster ride - like life usually is! In August, I injured the middle finger on my right hand, of course I'm right handed - it's still sore - but better with a few weeks of therapy. It has really cut down on my crocheting though. 

I look forward to 2013, with some changes in store - they don't have anything to do with New Years resolutions, just my own need to stretch a bit - both literally and figuratively! They just happen to be occurring with the New Year! 

Wishing you a wonderful healthy happy 2013 with all it's up's and downs sort of like that roller coaster ride! 

It always comes back up! 

HAF Featured Artist Lady Faith Jewelry

Barbara, the creator of Lady Faith Jewelry is  a retired school teacher and once again has time for doing what she loves, drawing, painting and making some great jewelry.  Barbara  originally created jewelry when she was very young,  around 5 or 6, when her grandmother brought home a bag of broken jewelry & she would put it back together with safety pins.  It is interesting how many of us find our way back to something we truly enjoyed as a child.

And Lady Faith keeps that childhood playfulness in much of her jewelry such as these Dangling Stacked Candy Earrings, what wonderful colors, and you could wear them with a variety of outfits!

These pretty Ruby Earrings on hand crafted sterling silver ear wires are still playful, although a bit more sophisticated 

Wouldn't it be fun to wear this wonderful  Mystery of Egypt Charm Bracelet while dancing! What fun with all those cool jangly charms!

You will not only find some very nice jewelry, but very reasonable prices on  Lady Faith's Jewelry, where you will find as she says " fun jewelry for the modern woman."  Enjoy! You can also find Barbara at her blog,  Jewelry by Lady Faith

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and a bright and beautiful 2013. 

Thank you for coming by and have a great day!

Through The Eyes of a Child

It's 3:40 A.m.  I fell asleep earlier and slept for 2 hours and now I'm awake again! I was going through my picture files, cleaning some out, organizing them etc, and came across some my grandson took this past Aug.  I had just finished up my 84 Bits and Pieces Dancing Glass Wind Chime and had been taking pictures of it when Kai asked if he could take some.  I put the camera strap back on and let him have at it.  These are a some of the pictures he took.

Hint: Just click on the 1st one and then you can go through them pretty quickly! And they are so much more fun to look at in a larger size.

I have found that kids, from babies to older ones, really like wind chimes, and if they are shiny glass ones, all the better!

These are actually less than half of the ones he took that afternoon.  When his little sister Evie was about 7 mo's old, they came to visit.  There were a few times my daughter would go for a short walk around the complex, and  leave both kids in my care.  Kai is a piece of cake!  Evie at 7 mo's,  well that was different story!  I had a couple of different wind chimes on my patio and I found she would settle down and become a happy baby when I took her outside and ran my fingers across the wind chime making it sing. 

I have some "big" kid who goes by my apartment and once in a while will  run their hand across one of my wind chimes making it sing.  I can tell the difference between the wind, and a person making it sing!  When I'm outside, some of the kids around here will come by and ask if I'll make them make noise!  I love it!

Wishing I could be with my Kai and Evie for Christmas, but it's not to be this year.  Hopefully next year.  I was with them last Christmas,at their home,  they are so fun to be around.   

H A P P Y    H O L I D A Y S

HAF Feature: Highlights

What's a highlight? you ask.  Well, a highlight is collection of  creations  that in this case are all handmade and for sale on HandMadeArtists.com.  They are usually done with a certain theme, color, idea, etc, in mind.  We also  have Highlight contests!  Those are always fun!  The person with the most comments or sometimes views wins!  What do they win?  Depends on what the person sponsoring the contest decides to give away, usually something from their shop.   There are some great highlights to browse through,  and a  nice way to see a variety of some awesome hand made creations all in one place.

A few of the latest Highlights
HHC#20 Hunter Green and Cranberry Challenge
Festival of Lights  ( a great one if you like blue)
It's Snowing Rainbow Colors - What a great title!

I'll leave you with these 3 to get you started - because once you go there, it's easy to see the rest!

Just to entice you a little, I'm featuring one item from each of the highlights listed above such as this awesome Fused Glass Double Rainbow

Or how about a Swarovski Christmas Charm PDF Tutorial 


Pretty Charm!

this Candle Wee Dram Key Chain Flask is cool! (No drinking and driving though  ;)  )



Be sure to check out the Highlights too!











Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful day & love the comments!  Comments are moderated, they will not show up until I approve them - Patience please, I will get to them - I promise!

HAF Featured Artist Finding Charm

I'm catching up from last week!
Featured this week is Sarah creator of Finding Charm.  Sarah got into making jewelry because she wanted items that went with her clothing that didn't break the bank. She bought some beads and Finding Charm was created.

I love ankle bracelets but don't  find many jewelry makers make them.  so, I'm excited that Sarah does, such as this pretty White Beaded Ankle Bracelet 

This Light Pink Tear Drop Bracelet looks like a fun piece to wear!

and perfect for the holidays and any other time of the year is this lovely Cranberry Red Beaded Necklace, Bracelet and Earrings Set 




If you're looking for a little bling for the holidays, as gift or for yourself,  visit Finding Charm on ArtFire or

Finding Charm on Etsy

Finding Charm on Facebook

Finding Charm on ecrater

Finding Charm on zibbet

No excuses for not being able to find her sweet creations!  Oh yes, she makes some very nice eyeglass necklaces too!
Thanks for coming by and have a great day! Leave a message too - they are moderated and will show up after I approve them - keeps the ickies out!

Shhhh! Secret Santa.....................

LOL Secrets already out!
Not too long ago a bunch of us at HandMadeArtists forum got together for a Secret Santa thing!  I admit I was a little leery about doing this, as I had participated in something similar a few years ago, and well I was pretty disappointed with my "gift".  but, we have some great creators on AF, so I wasn't too concerned!
Normally I check my mail once a week, maybe twice a week if I'm expecting something!  I knew people were mailing things out, so I tried really hard to check my mail box more frequently.

Friday night just about 9:00 I was fixing myself something to eat, and I thought Oh shoot, I'd better get over to the mail box before the door gets locked up. I live in a fairly large apartment complex and the door to the main building gets locked up every night!  So, I put my slippers & a coat on and headed off to  the mail box.   I opened the box and there before my eyes was a brown paper wrapped box ( love my mail man!)
On the way back to my apartment I looked at who it was from, and then got really excited!
I managed to contain myself and grabbed my dinner and sat down to unwrap my present.  What a present it was!

First, is this pretty shiny red box
(I have a thing about boxes!)

lifting the lid I found this great card with a note printed to the side (note part is cropped out)
and a lovely purple fine net bow just under the card,

lifting those out, I found a neat blue tin (my thing for boxes - well double that for tins!)

and inside the tin was this incredibly awesome bracelet made just for me!
Be sure to click on the images for a better view!

I have to tell you, this is no light weight bracelet!  It weighs almost 2oz!  I had just bought a digital scale on Friday - so I had to play with it weighing things! And it's well made too!  So, you are wondering who did I receive this beauty from? I received this delightful bracelet  from Lisa of Uniqlets on HandMadeArtists

Part of the fun in this, was we were to post a picture of what we received in a thread on the forum.  I did it pretty much the way I did here - except for telling people who it was from - and had them guess!  It didn't take long for someone to guess.  Lisa has such a unique style, just like all of her creations, they are unique!  Each piece of jewelry she makes is a one of a kind creation.

I  went to her shop just before writing this and fell in love with this beautiful Victorian Elegance Reworked Vintage Necklace 

and check out this amazing Cuckoo Vintage Steampunk Necklace , now seriously can you say you've ever seen a Cuckoo clock necklace?  Well, maybe, but I doubt it was as unique as this one! 

This Art Nouveau Lady in the Flowers Bracelet is brilliant! 

If you are looking for some special jewelry for that someone special in your life, I highly recommend you pay a visit to Lisa's boutique Uniqlet's on HandMadeArtists Shop.  Be sure to check out all of her pages - everything is different on each and every page!

I'm so glad  you came by, be sure to leave a comment!  Comments are moderated (sorry) so you will not see your comment right away - but I will get to them as soon as I can!

Have a great day!

and now i'm going to put up my Christmas tree - really early for me!

Woo Hoo 100 Followers Giveaway!

And the winner is Lisa!  Congrats Lisa!  Seriously people that is the name I drew!
Not too long ago, I decided to do a give away to celebrate when I got to 100 followers.  For some reason,  I had a hard time deciding how to do this, and what to give away!
Decisions made!

I'm giving away a hand painted,  hand cut stained glass ornament sun catcher with a design like this, except you get to choose the 2 colors.  Please see below for color choices**
So, here's what you need to do:
 1.  Visit my reflections studio, decide what your favorite item is and
2.  ****Come back here and leave me a message with your favorite item  and the 2 colors you would like for this 3 1/4" x 3"  bauble if you win. **You need to leave a comment on my blog, under this heading to be entered.**  Comments are moderated, you won't see it right away - I will get to them, I promise!
3.  If you aren't already following me, please do so!(you don't have to if you would rather not)
4.  Contest ends Sat Dec. 1st 2012 at midnight MST.

click on image for larger view

Color choices:
Top Row - Outline colors:  white, black, gold,  or silver,  but you can choose any color you like
2nd Row - Transparent colors: white, royal blue, red, purple, kelly green,  yellow,  amber, Prussian Blue, Black
3rd Row -Iridescent colors:  the 1st color of a pair is the main color, the second color is the the color that sparkles on top :  Ivory/ gold, aqua/blue, green/blue. red/gold, blue/blue,  purple/blue, pink/blue - unfortunately the iridescence doesn't show up too well.
4th Row - Frosted colors:  green, yellow, blue, red, (the frosted red really isn't very frosty - it's more of a flat red)

NOTE: the outline,  iridescent and frosted colors are not transparent.
You will not be receiving the red and gold one pictured,  but if you want one like it, I can do that!
Good Luck, remember contest ends midnight MST Sat. Dec 1, 2012!


Have a great day!

A Wonderful Gift From a Very Nice Lady

About Halloween time, I made a few Highlights, and of course sent little notes to everyone that I included.  I received a short note back from Judy, creator of JuniqueGoods.  We exchanged a few messages with each other, and in one of those she offered me  a few sets of double pointed knitting needles.  These high quality needles had belonged to her mother-in-law who used them quite a bit especially for sweater sleeves.   Judy said she had also used them but no longer knitted,  so I said, Yes, I'd love to have them!  Honestly I was expecting a "few" sets.  I really felt very honored that this very sweet woman was giving me some nice double pointed knitting needles.  Within about a  week, I received a manila envelope in the mail,  and couldn't wait to get back to my apartment to see what was inside!

As I opened the package, I thought, this is a "few" sets!
Each set of 5 double pointed needles had several rubber bands around them along with a small piece of paper with the size.

Enclosed were size 3

and sizes 4 &5

and 6 & 7

and also 8 & 9

along with size 10!

A bit more than a "few"!!!  Oh, the picture of sizes 8 & 9,  there are only 4 of the size 9 in the picture, because I had to try these lovely needles out, so one of them was occupied with  the beginnings of a scarf!

These sweet light weight double pointed needles are made out of birch wood  by Brittany..  They also make regular knitting needles as well as crochet hooks. I asked Judy if her mother-in-law or she had used them, as they didn't look like they had been used at all!  She assured me that both she and her mother-in-law had used them.

I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a sweet gift, but, I am delighted to have these!  Judy, thank you so very much!
Judy, at the age of 75 opened her online shop, selling some very cool creations.  She  is happily married and living in Monroe, NC.  Judy is also the mother of 2 and the grandmother of 5.  She says that working with  beads, wire, ribbon, fabric, and wood provides some much needed relaxation  after a day of working with children in their Home Child Care Facility.  Now, normally I wouldn't share what a women's age is, but I think it's wonderful that she took this on at the age of 75, along with taking care of children.

I'd like to share of few of Judy's creations in her JuniqueGoods shop on HandMadeArtists Shop

One of my favorites, is this Christmas Spider

And I just love these Mini Stump Santas

Judy also has some very colorful  Handwoven Gods Eyes that are made by the kids!  This pretty brown, yellow and peach (?) one, is just one example of these nicely done creations.
You can find Judy's creations at JuniqueGoods on HandMadeArtists
and JuniqueGoods on ArtFire
You can also find her as JudyGriffith on Facebook.

I'm glad you stopped by and wishing you a wonderful day.  Love comments - they are moderated, so you won't see them right away.  I have to approve them 1st.  Keeps the creepies out!

HAF Featured Artist BrooklynBeadGoddess

I guess my love of glass just naturally extends to lamp work beads, they are glass! And especially when they are as pretty as the ones that Brooklyn Bead Goddess makes.  April who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY  credits Brooklyn for her style and flair unique to her jewelry.   She also remembers going to Coney Island and seeing glass artists who sold their sparkling delicate creations there.

As April describes it: "Lampwork is used to describe handcrafted glass beads that are made by melting glass rods with a torch. The word "lamp" was used in ancient times when the glass was melted with the flame of an oil lamp. Today the craft is also called "flameworking". Each glass bead is individually hand crafted by heating a glass rod in the flame of an oxygen and natural gas mixed gas torch. The hot glass is melted and applied to a steel rod. I'm open to whatever glass I can experiment with. Lately I'm using German Lauscha, Italian glass Effetre/Moretti, Vetrofond and Creation is Messy. I enjoy learning from and making friends with other artists. Being involved in the art world has always been my passion. Making glass beads takes time and patience. Mostly it takes practice, practice and more practice. That's what keeps me focused. There is always something new to learn." Let's explore some of April's lampwork jewelry........... As many of you know, I'm going to head straight for the blue 1st - such as this gorgeous Lampwork Bead Necklace Handcrafted Glass Wearable Art Jewelry Necklace  Green is my other favorite color, so this is perfect! Such a pretty pink Lampwork Glass Bead Bracelet Handcrafted Wearable Art Jewelry   One of my favorite color combinations, blue and purple, that you will find in this very nice Lampwork Bead Necklace Handmade Artisan Jewelry Handcrafted Wearable Art SRA an SRAJD I admit, I was tempted to do all blue, but I know other people wear other colors too!  So do I.  You can find Apri'ls creations at Brooklyn Bead Goddess on HandMadeArtists, as well as http://www.brooklynbeadgoddess.com/  Her blog, Brooklyn Bead Goddess Blog,  She is also on twitter https://twitter.com/bklynbeadgoddes and facebook https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynBeadGoddessApril. No excuses for not being able to find her!   Thanks for coming by and have a great day!  Would love to hear what you think!  Comments are moderated - they won't show up until I approve them.