Featured Friday - Natural Illumination

Cool Handmade Stuff From Artists I Admire

Today's Featured Friday is Natural Illumination

My customer turned friend opened an Etsy shop yesterday!  She takes beautiful, tranquil photographs and incorporates inspirational quotes.   And she's super sweet!  :)

This one is my favorite!

Or maybe this one?!

It's so hard to choose!  But I've already placed a custom order ~ Yep, she will customize any photo to fit your favorite size, color tone, quote,and  picture combination. How cool is that!

What are you waiting for?  Go check out her shop!

Thanks for taking a peek ~ and check back next Friday for more fun, handmade finds!

What's Up Wednesday - The Flow

upcoming events, news, and interesting tidbits

I have an exciting announcement!  I'm very honored to have been included in The Flow Magazine's 7th Annual Gallery of Women in Glass!!  

I can't believe my work was included amid all the truly incredible, inspiring artists in this magazine!  If you have a copy of The Flow I'm number 81 on page 16.  

Thank you to The Flow ~ I can't tell you how thrilled I am!

Motivation Monday - Chinese Character Beads

Things that inspire me, color combinations I love, the music that rocks my studio and 

anything else that makes me want to jump up and make a bead!

The first Monday of 2012!  I'll be in the studio all day today and I'll be working on Chinese character beads since I have a special order and I need to replace some in my shop (plus, they're fun!).  

Here's one I already made:  Friend

Here's the special order character I'll try today: Unity

Whew, this one looks hard!

And I feel like rocking 2012 ~ so I think I'll crank a little Nickleback!

Thanks for stopping by and stay motivated!

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

And a very Happy Birthday to the love of my life and the most incredible man I've ever met!

(and he's pretty cute too!)

Dusty

As we end 2011 and look forward to what 2012 will bring, it seems everyone is making resolutions.  I gave up on resolutions years ago when I realized they rarely last more than a few weeks, and I'm not big on feeling like a failure.  I prefer to make plans.  According to Dictionary.com a plan is: a scheme or method of acting, doing, proceeding, making,etc., developed in advance.  This makes more sense to me. 

 So this year I plan to get back on the diet and exercise program that I used 2 years ago to lose 40 pounds (and then didn't stick to last year and gained 10 back) :(   And I plan to make this the year that Veda's Beads starts supporting me instead of just itself LOL!  I also intend to make plans to travel to my favorite place in the world again.  

So that's it in a nutshell.  Lose 20 pounds and sell enough beads to go back to Belize.  Sounds easy enough!  

Happy 2012! Let's go make it the best year ever!!

What's Up Wednesday - Happy Holidays

What's Up Wednesday

upcoming events, news, and interesting tidbits

Merry Christmas!  

Happy Hanukkah!

Joyous Kwanzaa!

Happy Boxing Day!

No matter which Holiday you celebrate, I hope you all have a beautiful day surrounded by the happy laughter of the people you love!

I'll be taking a few days off to celebrate with my family, and then back in full swing next week. 

Wishing you peace, love and joy this holiday season!

Motivation Monday - Christmas Cookies

Motivation Monday

Things that inspire me, color combinations I love, the music that rocks my studio and 

anything else that makes me want to jump up and make a bead!

Today's motivation has to be cookies and carols! 

When I decide to make cookies this is what I see in my head:

(Picture was found on flickr)

and this is a more accurate depiction of what comes out of my oven:

(picture from life as a modern wife's blog)

I'm glad you're buying beads from me instead of cookies!  

As a funny side note, my husband asked me yesterday why I make Christmas cookies.  I said "because I like to".  His response?  "Well, I like to make sandwiches but you never see me make 27 of them and leave them all over the counter".  He always makes me laugh!

and the Christmas carol that always has me singing along (much to the dismay of everyone else in the room):

Silver Bells

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, and Happy Boxing Day!

What's Up Wednesday

What's up Wednesday

upcoming events, news, and interesting tidbits

Last night I remembered exactly why I make beads.  Money?  Nope.  Fame?  Nope. Power? Nope.  Happiness? YES!  Making beads makes me happy.  And what's even better than that is when my beads make someone else happy!  I got a convo on Etsy last night that brought tears to my eyes.  The customer was just so sweet  and so excited about my beads that she made me get excited about them all over again! I'm very fortunate to have had many customers like this over the years, and each time I hear from them I go back to the torch with renewed enthusiasm.   Well, the kiln is heating up, so I'm off to the torch to work on her special orders and maybe try a couple of  beads from the Motivation Monday post.  Before I go I would just like to offer a heartfelt  thank you to all the wonderful customers out there who make it possible for me to do this.  THANK YOU!!