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!

Would You Like to Win Some Chain Maille?

Would you like to win one of these beautiful chain maille creations?

Well, you can and I'm going to share with you how!

The Etsy Chainmailler's Guild had a contest for their members. We were to create a chain maille item fitting a "Romance Blossom" theme. The entries are in and now, we are asking you to vote for your favorite! Vote for your favorite, leave a comment with contact information (email) and on April 18, winners for the voter prizes (pictured above) will be chosen via random number generator.

For all the details and to vote, please click here and you will be directed to the Etsy Chainmaillers Guild blog.

Want to get some extra opportunities to win these fabulous prizes? Twitter the URL to the blog, blog about the contest, post in any forum, use Myspace bulletin or Facebook announcements and leave a separate comment for each of these things that you did. Each one of these will give you an extra opportunity to win one of these prizes.

Thanks for voting and good luck - hopefully you will win one of these prizes!

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!

Romance Blossoms Contest and Etsy Treasuries

Do you ever have a vision in your mind of something you want to create but, when you go to execute it, it just doesn't turn out the way you envisioned? Well, that's what I have been going through trying to create a piece for an Etsy Chain Maillers Guild contest. The theme of the contest is Romance Blossoms and the deadline is April 1st.

Late Sunday evening I had to compromise on my vision a bit but, I finally came up with a piece that fits the theme (in my mind anyway). It's not completely finished yet but, I should have no trouble meeting the deadline. The contest is open to all members of the Esty Chain Maillers Guild and the voting is open to everyone... that includes you! Anyone who votes will be eligible to win a prize that has been donated by Guild members and there's going to be some great prizes. :) I'll post all the links and more details when the voting begins and hopefully, one of my readers will win a prize!

I woke up Sunday morning to find out that I am in not one... but two Etsy Treasuries. It's always such an honor when someone chooses one of my pieces to include in their Treasury. They expire on Tuesday so, if you have a minute please check them out... click, comment and send them some love - Thanks!!

Wired and Wound - click here for link. Chained and Beaded - click here for link.

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!

Celebrating Spring... a day late!

I had to be reminded last night that yesterday was in fact the first day of Spring! Wow... I can't believe that I missed that one. Sure, I saw posts on Artfire... "show me your Spring" etc... but, for some reason, I didn't clue in! It's even printed on the calendar - I guess I missed that one too! But in all fairness, I actually thought that yesterday was the 19th! So, somewhere during the week I lost a day.
Better late than never, I thought I would celebrate Spring with a bit of color.