Hello everyone! I'm posting because I'm planning a revamp of this blog and a possible website in the future. If you'd like to receive notices of new beads for  sale in the Etsy shop (or the website, possibly), grab the RSS feed and plug it into your favorite reader! I'll be posting here about available sets and beads as they come out of the kiln and have their glamour shot sessions :) I hope you'll visit often and let me know you stopped by! 

I can't believe I went and torched today and forgot to come announce the winner! Voting was over last night at midnight and our winner is Sheila Douglas! Her pooch will be so PROUD! :D

Sheila has won a $50 credit to my shop, I can't wait to see how she uses it! :D

Thanks everyone for voting, I hope we'll be holding a new challenge soon :)

Good afternoon everyone! I've got some absolutely lovely pieces to share with you from the participants in this month's challenge :D  We combined January and February to get a chance to work with some hearts. The designers came up with some beautiful pieces, so let's get started!

The winner of this vote will receive a $50 credit to my shop, Flamekeeper on Etsy, so good luck to all our participants! :D (I have to apologize for all the formatting errors here on the blog, I can't figure out how to get  rid of all the extra lines! :) )

1. Kim Booth of The Pink Martini Boutique

available here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/93021434/lampwork-pendant-necklace-and-earrings

2. Bobbi Moore of Bobbi's Jewelry Shop

3. Cindy Evans of All Strung Up 

Available here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/91807593/my-heart-is-on-fire-beaded-lampwork

4. Lyn Owen of SilverMoonLyn

Available here: http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/4382981

5. Susan Kennedy of SueBeads

(unavailable for sale)

6.  Sheila Douglas

7. Terry Oostdyk of Ruben Glass

The voting poll is on the top right of the sidebar :) Voting will be open until Tuesday, February 21 at midnight- come back and see who wins on Wednesday! :D

 Again, good luck to all of our designers! :)

Wow, that was a close one! The winner is Kim Booth, with this beautiful bracelet :D

Thank you for playing, everyone! The challenge will come back in January :) Happy holidays to you all!

Here we are, another month into Autumn, and it's time to vote again! We have four entries on this month's Challenge, and the winner will get a $50 credit to my Etsy shop :) Here we go!

1. Kim Booth of The Pink Martini Boutique

2. Jacqueline Day of WitchEver Oak

3. Jude's Jujus of Jude's Jujus

4. Bobbi Moore of Bobbi's Jewelry Shop

Thanks to all the designers this month, good luck to everyone! :D  The next challenge won't be until January :D

Completely unrelated to glass, jewelry or my fantastic designer's challenge winners :D

If you're anything like me, any information about the old practices of herbal healers and the old religion is welcome and devoured. This giveaway caught my eye simply by the title of the book- Old World Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi. Mrs. B. has a copy to give away this week, and I'd love to get ahold of it! :D 

Would you like to give it a shot? Here's a link to her blog!

http://www.confessionsofapagansoccermom.com/2011/10/giveaway-old-world-witchcraft-by-raven.html

The winner this month is Christina Anderson, with her amazing multimedia piece, Vertie Green :D Congratulations, Christina! Enjoy your $50 credit! :D

We've come to the end of another month and the year brings us cooler weather (and if you're in Indiana with me, lots of rain!). We're gearing up for Halloween here, so this month's beads were all spooky Halloween themed beads. Instead of variations on a single design theme, the designers were offered a wide variety of shapes and colors! :) Here is the group our designers had to choose from this month:

And out of these beads came a huge success of designs! Some new participants joined us and I hope to see a big vote turnout :) Though we had a full plate of designers, only a handful had time to complete their entries for this month. It's a busy season!

The entrants are competing for a $50 credit to my Etsy shop. Make sure to pass along the blog link to friends and family- they may find a design they can't pass up, or find a new favorite shop :) The voting poll is on the sidebar to the right. Please vote for your favorite there (not in the comments, thanks!).

On to the entries!

1 - Carrie Stalcup of Upzndowns

2 - Christina Anderson

3 - Dawn Horner of Northern Adornaments

4 - Erin Laney of EverythingELB

5 - Lynn LaBenz of Treasures By Lynn

6 - Rose Pulido Puskas

7 - Shelley Cole Kuduk of The Rodeo Rose

Thank you to all our entries! Next month, we'll be doing Christmas/Yule themed beads. Keep an eye out!

Leayn Tabili of Anthelion Jewelry! :) Leayn entered this amazing piece:

And you can buy it HERE :)

Congratulations, Leayn, and thank you to all the designers who entered!

I'm hoping to have the beads for the next challenge ready within a couple of days- keep an eye out :D

 

Note! The voting poll is on the right sidebar>>>> Make sure you cast your vote in the poll! :)

We have some of the most beautiful entries this month! If you're unfamiliar with these goings-on, check out the pages linked above and find out all about it! These designers are up for a $50 credit in either my Etsy or Artfire stores, so make sure to vote for your favorite, and pass the link to your friends, too!

On to the eye candy!

1. Leayn Tabili of Anthelion Jewelry

2. Adrienne Cantler

3. Rose Pulido Puskas of Original Rose

4. Vickie Barber-Ellis of Sunshine Jewels

5. Dhea Powers of JavaBead

6. Bobbi Moore of Bobbi's Jewelry Shoppe

7. Erin Laney of Everything ELB

8. Jude Williamson of Jude's Jujus

Thanks for having a peek at everyone's designs, and please pass this page on to your friends, cheer on our designers and enjoy the art they've created! Voting will be open until July 31, midnight, and the winner will be officially announced the following morning :) Thanks for stopping in!

We had a record 350 votes this month, and June's winner is Dhea Powers from JavaBead!  Not only does Dhea make beautiful lush jewelry, her husband Russ makes some gorgeous borosilicate art beads. Make sure to stop in and check it out!

Congratulations, Dhea!



Happy Summer to all of you! We're having beautiful weather here, and lots to keep us busy :) In the shop, Jaipur Jewels, Mehndi lentils and Bollywood Chunkies are being posted as soon as possible, but... gardening is fun, too ;)

So, how does this work, you're asking? Check the top of the blog page here, there's a link to two pages, Rules and Entering. Have a peek and join us in a few days when it's time to start it all over again! I'll be doing rounds again this coming month (Sorry, Jude! Lentils next month! :D). There will be a dozen to choose from! :)

On to the voting! I'm so glad I don't judge this on my own. I'd never be able to choose! We had some amazing entries this month :)  Please come vote for your favorite- the voting is on the right in the side bar :)

1.  Jude Williamson of Jude's Jujus

2. Dawn Horner of Northern Adornaments 

3. Dhea Powers of JavaBead

4.  Jacqui Day of WitchEver Oak

5.  Judith Rudolph of Holly Cottage Designs

6.  Marcia Rhodes of Brat Cat Beads

7. Michelle Plumb

8. Stacey Hudak Kitchin

9.  Sue Dobiesz

 10. Tina Walker (who also made the purse!)

All of our designers did a gorgeous job this month (and if I missed a link, I'm sorry! Contact me and I'll correct it!), let's give them all a big hand! The winner will receive a $50 credit to either of my shops. I love seeing these challenge pieces, everyone's so creative and puts so much thought and love into their art! Good luck to you all, now go promote yourselves... I'm also asking the voters to promote to help these designers get the recognition they all deserve :) Share on Facebook, email, groups- help out your friends! :)

Thanks to all of  you. I bid you good day and hope you vote!

Our winner for this month is Marcy Bell, who entered this bracelet:

Marcy sent the photo in to Step by Step Wire Jewelry, and they're having her write a tutorial :D I love being a part of something that gets my customers exposure!

Congratulations, Marcy!

New beads will be up either late tonight or tomorrow morning. June's Design Challenge will be using Bollywood Chunkies. I'll have 12 available for purchase to enter the challenge, so keep an eye out on my Facebook page (there will be a notice posted here too!) to tag yourself and claim a bead and an entry!

Do you want to enter a challenge to win $50 to my shops?  Here's how it works!


At the beginning of the month, I'll post a photo on Facebook of 10 (or more) beads to choose from. Tag yourself in the photo to claim it. The beads are $15 plus shipping ($2.00 anywhere in the world). I'll ship beads out the day after the payment is received. You are not limited to one bead! :)  


Once you receive your bead, make something spectacular with it! It can be anything at all, there's no specific category requirement. Keychain, earrings (asymmetrical! :D), bracelet, necklace, belly chain, anklet, window hanging thingy... up to you!


Send me a photo of the piece or post it on Facebook and tag me in it. I'll save it in my handy dandy designer notebook until it's time to post the voting page :)


Photos are due by the 27th of the month. The voting blog post will go up on the 28th. Send your friends, family and everyone you know to the blog and have them vote for their favorite!


The winner will be announced by voting popularity on the last day of the month. If you're the winner, you have a $50 credit to use as you wish in either my Etsy shop or my Artfire shop!


Come over to my Facebook page to be notified of new beads for sale, sales and coupons, challenges and other announcements!

Here we have our lovely entries! For information on how to join next month's challenge, check the upcoming post :D

Our designers, in no particular order, are:

1.  Leayn Tabili of Anthelion Jewelry

2.  Jacqui Day of WitchEver Oak

3. Erin Laney of Everything ELB

4. Helen Wilby of The BeadSmyth

5. Michelle Plumb

6. Marcy Bell of FollowTheRedBrickRd

7. Sue Dobiesz

And those are our entries this month! The winner will be announced June 1, 2011. Voting is on the right sidebar, please vote for your favorite and leave comments congratulating our ladies for their beautiful work!

The voted winner will receive a $50 credit to my Etsy or Artfire shop :)

Our designers did a fabulous job, and I'm proud to be a part of each and every one of them! :D  Voting will be on the right sidebar, please vote for your favorite and leave comments congratulating our ladies for their beautiful work!