Featuring Honey Beads

I love lampwork beads and I really look up to those that can make them. For a while, I have been wanting to incorporate lampwork beads into my chain maille pieces but, I don't think fire and I would get along too well as I tend to burn myself a lot.

My next and probably best option was to find myself someone who makes the beads and order them. That's how I came across Kristina from Honey Beads. I was searching Artfire and found her shop. I really liked the colors of one of her beads and contacted her to see if she could make a long bead using the same colors. She could and... she did. It was stunning!

Kristina has been mastering her skills over the past few years and her work today is absolutely beautiful. Every time I look at her shop I find more and more beads that I want. Her turn around on custom work and her customer service is amazing!

If you haven't checked out her lampwork beads yet, I suggest you do here at Honey Beads.

Here are some of my favorites and yes... I currently own some of them :)

Aren't they beautiful! It is truly an honor for me to feature Honey Beads!

Artfire Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter bunny has finished painting all of the eggs and they are safely hidden in various Artfire studios. Now, it's up to you to find them!

Who can participate? Anyone can participate. You don't need to have an account with Artfire and there are no fees - it's free!

Here's how it works...

The contest will run for 3 weeks (April 1 - April 21). Colorful Easter eggs containing letters or the word "space" are hidden in the participating studios. You will need to get the contest form which contains the clues that will help you find the eggs. Click here for the contest form.

Once you have the entry form, go to http://www.artfire.com/ and using the clues, navigate through the shops (utilizing the search function available on the site) to find the eggs. At the end, you will have enough letters and spaces to form a sentence. You will receive points for each correct letter and for each correct word in the sentence. The sentence has to be in the exact order to score all the points. When you start assembling the sentence, you will see when it is correct (that's a tip). Once you think you have it, complete the entry form and submit it. The people with the highest scores will receive gift vouchers which they will be able to use in any of the participating shops ($50, $20 and $10).

While you are searching for the eggs, take a look around for any goodies you might want to purchase with the vouchers should you win one! All participating studios are looking forward to your visit and will welcome you with open arms... and an egg! Each studio has a "contact" button should you have any questions about the products they sell. If you are not a member of Artfire, you can make purchases without the need to register, making the buying experience very easy for you.

For complete details, please go to the official Artfire Easter Egg Hung blog. If you have any questions, enter them in the comment section after the topic on the blog and it they will be answered for you as soon as possible. Also check back on the blog during the contest as further hints may be provided.

Good Luck and happy hunting!

Artfire Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter bunny will be hiding Easter eggs in a number of Artfire studios and it will be up to you to find them to fill your basket. These are very special Easter eggs... each one of them will have a letter or the word "space" on them and it will be up to you to collect all of them. Once you have all of the eggs, you'll have to arrange them to form a sentence. The hunt will begin April 1st and will run for three weeks.

A list of participating studios with clues will be provided and yes... I will be one of the studios that will be hiding an egg. Before you even think of asking... no... I'm not going to tell you where I have hidden it because that would take all the fun out of it!

There's more... the three highest scores will receive gift vouchers ($50, $20 and $10) to be used in any of the participating studios! Now that has to be worth the search!

Please visit Moonstone's blog for the entry form and all the details!

Special thanks to Moonstone for all her efforts in making this happen!

Don't go searching for the eggs just yet though... the Easter bunny still has a little more painting to do. Don't worry, he will have them all done by April 1st!

Featured Artisan of the Day - Ninja Jenn

My feature Artisan for today is Jenn from Ninja Jenn.

I first came across Jenn in the chatterbox forums several weeks ago. My first impression when reading her posts is... what a nice person! I was curious... what does a person with the shop name of Ninja Jenn sell? I was amazed when I checked out her shop. Jenn makes beautiful pendants from scrabble, domino and other tiles. I had never seen that done before! Jenn also creates custom pieces. Well... I had to have one. I have a ring that is engraved with... Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none (Shakespeare quote) which I wear all the time. I asked Jenn if she would create a tile for me with the same saying. The next day, Jenn contacted me with about 7 or 8 different options - here we go again... decision making time!! Luckily I was able to choose one. Here is the pendant that she made for me - I love it!

All of Jenn's pieces are made with love a great attention to detail. She is such a conscientious seller... following up to see if the pendant arrived safe, worried if you are going to like it - just amazing! On top of that, Jenn goes out of her way to help other sellers. Not only does she help in the forums but, if you go to her blog, she has tutorials on Twitter and RSS feeds. I guess my first impression of her in the forum was spot on!!

Jenn calls herself an all-around dabbler. She started out painting, has had her hands in sculpting, sewing and her current medium of choice is resin and decoupage. You have to check out her wide selection of pendants in her shop - Ninja Jenn. Here are some of my favorites!

Jenn just recently opened a new shop on Artfire - Ninja Jenn2 and I just had to check it out! The shop is new but the items she has here so far really display her artistic abilities! Here is a hand painted rosebud pot from her new shop - just beautiful!

It is my privilege to feature Jenn from Ninja Jenn!

Featured Artist - Spoiled Bratzwear

For my first featured artisan, I have chosen Holly from Spoiled Bratzwear.

Several weeks ago, I posted a chainmaille necklace on Artfire and as usual after posting an item, I go to the studio stats and check how many views I get. Admit it... we all do it!! At the best of times, I may get 3 to 4 views. This time it was different. I was refreshing my computer and the views just kept on going up and up on this necklace... I thought my computer had a mind of it's own. Then... I got a message from Holly from Spoiled Bratzwear telling me that they are chatting about my chainmaille in one of the forums. That explained it all! Because of her comment on the forum, I've found many wonderful and talented artisans within the Artfire community. Therefore... my first featured Artisan is Spoiled Bratzwear.

Holly is a pet wellness consultant, dog rescuer and a hairdresser! She founded Holistic Hounds where you can learn all about what your dogs are eating and how it affects their overall health. She also founded http://www.silverhounds.org/ - a rescue group for senior Italian greyhounds. Please check them out.

If all that isn't enough, Holly takes her sewing skills and creates fabulous petwear using unique fabrics and fun prints. This is just a sample (some of my favorites) of some of her "Spoiled Bratzwear"!

I always look forward to her new creations in the Artfire daily postings - if only I had a dog! It is truly my pleasure to feature Spoiled Bratzwear !!