Fabulous Friday Finds for July 2

Da da da DA! Two weeks in a row. I'm back. We'll see if I can keep up this time with the Fab Friday Finds. I almost didn't make it, but since it's only 11:00pm here, I think I'm still good. :-)

The first Fabulous Friday Find for this week is a ring I saw on Flickr, by an artist named Ponsawan who is participating in the Ring-a-Day exercise.

Ponsawan's work is incredibly varied, so I had a really hard time choosing what picture to post here. I eventually wound up just posting one of her most recent works because I could not choose!!!

I love finding people like this who are so talented that the ideas flow out of them like water.

As I usually do with these finds, I visited Ponsawan's Etsy shop (silastones) and some of her other links so I could see more of her goodies. You can find links to her other sites on her blog.

Her creativity is remarkable to me, especially after having read of her daughter's auto accident in 2008 and knowing what she must be going through to help her recover from a brain injury. I applaud Ponsawan, as it's obvious through reading her blog and the one she's devoted to her daughter (Ada) that she's doing everything she can to care for her. And all the while, she's creating art.

I've been busy beading some custom orders and working on house plans, so I haven't been spending as much time as usual looking at lampwork beads on Etsy, but I saw these when they were in a treasury with one of my cuffs.

They're from an Etsy shop called mylampworkgarden, a shop filled with beads of all sizes, colors, and patterns. I think I'm gonna have to do some shopping... :-)

These are called "Ammonite" beads by their creator, a lampwork artist from Ontario, Canada, and they really do look like a fossil. There's something about the square shape of the beads with the organic quality of the design that's just downright cool.






I never really spent much time playing with dolls when I was younger (tomboys don't play with dolls, unless they're G.I. Joe dolls), but now I keep finding dolls I like! Maybe after we get our house built I'll have a shelf full of dolls - does this mean I'm starting my second childhood?!

When I came across this doll on Etsy, I knew she was going to be a Fabulous Friday Find. She is AMAZING!!! From the expression on her face, to her perfectly poofy hair, to that posture -- I love her.

Her name is Eli, and she was created by a very talented artist from Lithuania, named Dorote.

Dorote's Etsy shop name is tirelessartist, and although she only has a few listings in there you can see more of her work in her blog and her Flickr photostream. There are even some tutorials on her blog, for any doll makers who might be reading this post.

I'm going to go ogle some more.

And if anyone feels like giving me a doll for a gift, this is a nice place to start. :-)


Okay, my last Fabulous Friday Find is a little different than anything I've posted before. You'll need to turn the sound on to fully appreciate this.

One of my friends on Facebook posted a link to a video of the Cactus Cuties from a 2008 performance. At the time of this video, these little girls were only 6-8 years old!

Click here to look and listen to five amazing little voices, singing in beautiful harmony -- and particularly fitting to the upcoming weekend, this is the Star Spangled Banner.