Jewelry Gift!

I mentioned earlier that I'd post a picture of the jewelry I made for my niece (Funky Color! post), after I knew she had opened her gift, so here it is!

Chains are really big right now, so I wanted to do something with a great chain! I found this silver-electroplated chain at the Gem Faire in September, and snapped it right up!


Then, I needed to pick out some great beads for accent! Since my niece's favorite color is PURPLE, amethyst was the only stone to consider! LOL!!! Then, I found these AWESOME rock crystal (quartz) beads, as well, and HAD to add them to the mix! (I NEEDED them!!! LOL!!!)

So, here is the finished product... A long necklace, to wear in a single layer or drape in more layers, a matching bracelet, and earrings! Oh, what fun I had making these!!!

And, to top it all off, she LOVED them!!! Happy birthday again, Stacee!!! Love you!

A Small Gift...

... for one of my nieces!

Her favorite color is PINK and she is turning 14 this year! What do you give a young teen for her birthday?!? Why, JEWELRY, of course!!! Especially if she is a FASHIONISTA like this one (and her sisters)!!!

So, here is the gift I made her:
This jewelry set is made with Chinese pink opals, rhodonite, onyx, and silverplated beads, with sterling silver spacers and findings. I hope she likes it! I LOVE pink and black together!!!














Here is the gift box and card together. I had to stick with the pink and black theme, you know! LOL!!!























Here is the card and the creative deets:

Stamps: Oh, So Lovely
Inks: Going Gray, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink
Papers: Pixie Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Aquapainter; Pretties Kit Rhinestone Brad; Doodlebug Paper Frill (white, dyed with Pixie Pink pad); Flower & Leaves from Michael's.

I CASEd this card from Chrissyd723's cards, here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/664375. I totally fell in love with the gray background stamping she did, and then the colored focal point done with the same stamp. I think it is an elegant way to tie background and foreground together! Thanks, Chrissy!

I embellished the gift box very simply, by just wrapping a 2-inch designer paper strip (Fancy Pants Designs, "Lovebird") around the center for a belly band and adhering with sticky tape. Then, I punched a 1-inch circle out of Basic Black CS, centered the circle in the scallop punch, and got a cute little black "flower" out of it. Backed the black with another scallop, punched from Pixie Pink CS. Added detail by punching each scallop with my 1/8-inch circle punch for a more "lacy" look. Tied the scallop gift tag onto the box with (ret.) black organdy ribbon, over the paper band, and wrote my niece's name in the center of the flower. I like how it turned out! I hope it's a hit!

Another Creative Outlet for Me!

I'd like to share with you one of my newer "vices" that I've been involved with lately... You know that beading craze? Well, it hit me, too!!! LOL! Here are a few projects that I've made in the past couple of months...

This first jewelry set is made from blue lace agate and Austrian blue crystals, with silver spacer beads. The photo doesn't do it (or the others) justice at all.

The next set is snowflake obsidian, black onyx, and these CUTE little turtle beads! I LOVE turtles... The turtle was my personal mascot, bestowed on me by a teammate, when I was swimming with my high school swim team (slow and steady wins the race, I guess! LOL!)

I love the speckles in the snowflake obsidian! What a pretty stone!!!

This last set is much more simple, but is a great "everyday" kind of set... It is made with sodalite and silver beads. Since blue is my favorite color, and the sodalite goes so well with denim, I "had" to make this set for myeslf! And, of course, the cross has tons of meaning for me. I like to wear a cross everyday. Guess I'd better make more jewelry with crosses, so I have one to wear with every outfit, eh?!? LOL!

Thanks for looking!

Melodrama Madness!

My son's 6th-grade melodrama performances last week went off well and the play was well-received by the audiences! It was a blast watching the kids' hard work (3 months' worth) pay off in this hysterical final product! They have only one more performance, at another grade school, and this saga will be over!

My in-laws even came for a visit just for this (they have a 7-hour drive to get here), and my son did them proud! LOL!

So, now that I FINALLY have decent photos of the melodrama backdrops... Here they are!

This is the BIG ONE! It is12' x 27' and was hung on the curtain track at the very back of the stage...














Here is one of the three smaller ones (9' x 12') we painted-- this one was used for the classroom and the wall behind the saloon bar:


















Here is the street scene:

















And here is the mercantile interior (the teacher's favorite!):

I wish I had gotten a less-fuzzy photo of the last one, and had better lighting for the big backdrop... But, oh well... Can't win them all!

So, as you can see, I've been plenty busy myself, creating the artwork for these backdrops and then helping paint them! I think it took us (the other parents and me) about 1.5 months' worth of work to get these done -- but it was sooooooooooooooooo worth it, and great fun!!!

The kids and the teacher loved the entire set! You should see the GREAT free-standing saloon doors that another mom made for the set! They actually swing just like the real thing! And other parents made the bar/mercantile counter, the PVC frame for the backdrops, "wagon wheels," "tree stumps," etc.! I tell you, these kids were SPOILED!!!! LOL!

Anyway, that is the result of my very first foray into the world of drama set production! Hope you like!