HAVE YOU VOTED YET? No, I don't mean in the Presidential election, silly. I mean in the Etsy BeadWeavers July Challege. The voting opened yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to post here. Once again I'm plagued by just not having enough hours in the day. I tried to make it a little easier for voters this time. You don't even have to find one of the links to the EBW blog in this post - just click that red button over there on the left!

I also want to mention that one of the members (who I've talked about more than once here in this blog of mine) is having a giveaway!!! After you've gone to the EBW blog to cast your vote for your favorite entry, check out SandFibers' blog to see details about her giveaway. I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

Carol Dean gave me partial credit for the idea for her challenge entry, a wonderful freeform bracelet (it's number 31 in the mosaic you see on the EBW blog). It was so wonderful, in fact, that it stayed in her shop for less than an hour before it was bought by some lucky Etsy buyer!!! I'm waiting for her to create another one... there's a rumor that she has some more beads put aside for a freeform piece. :-)

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My other news, which I should have posted about before, is that one of my button rings (a little Wagon Wheel) made it into anda's treasury and then onto the Etsy Front Page!!! Woo hooo!!!! The treasury's gone now, but I grabbed a screenshot:

The other thing I didn't find time to post about is my latest Oglala bracelet. I named this one for a beautiful type of coral called floreana. I love the way this one turned out, with all that red and orange mixed together!!

The Etsy BeadWeavers Challenge is underway, and this month's theme is RED. There are 42 entries, and mine was the last one posted! I sneaked in under the wire, and I had to post a photo of my newly-designed Red Between the Lines cuff before it was even finished. I only had about ten minutes to spare when I listed it in my Etsy shop, but I completed the beading and added the button closure this morning. Whew!

Pat (my husband) said I should only have done two hearts, but I liked it with three. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I think this might be the fastest I've ever created both a pattern and a completed piece of jewelry. The pattern came to mind when I heard someone on TV say something about "reading between the lines," and it occurred to me that I wanted to have the hearts looking like they were peeking between blinds or something.

I didn't think I had that much Valentine's Day related stuff in my Etsy shop, but I just created a new section called Will.U.B.My.Valentine and loaded it up with everything I have listed that involves love and hearts. Well, not actually everything, as there are a few other romance-related items scattered around in other sections.

I was so happy with my little Santa-Hatted Raven at Christmastime that I decided to dress him up again for Valentine's Day. And so was born Quoth the Raven... Be My Valentine and The Raven Speaks His Heart. I've grown quite fond of these ravens.


Don't forget to check out the Etsy BeadWeavers Blog tomorrow and vote for your favorite amongst the 42 entries! You're going to have a tough time choosing.

The Etsy BeadWeavers October Challenge, A Study in Monochrome, has once again resulted in some gorgeous entries! Carol Dean (aka SandFibers) has created a mosaic of the 21 entries.

This month, in honor of the challenge and... well... just because I want to, I'm offering a prize! Here's the deal. The poll will be open until midnight on the 29th, so you have a few days to decide on your favorite. It's going to be a tough decision!

1. Go to the Etsy BeadWeavers Street Team Blog and vote for your FAVORITE entry into the October Challenge "A Study in Monochrome".

2. Come back here and leave a comment telling me that you voted (I don't need to know for whom). Your comment must be left by midnight on the 29th (same time the poll on the EBW blog closes).

3. Your entry will be entered into a drawing to win a beadwoven pendant in your choice of colors. Click here to see some pendants that are listed in my Etsy shop.

4. Visit my blog again on October 30th to find out who won (the winner will receive an email) and to find out what the November EBW Challenge will be.

Don't wait! Go vote NOW!